Essential Facts About PMJJBY That You Need To Know

Investing in life insurance is necessary if one is the primary bread winner of the family. Such an insurance policy safeguards the financial interests of the dependents in the unfortunate event of the death of the policy holder. However, most life insurance policies cost high annual premiums, making them largely unaffordable for the general public, especially those belonging to lower income groups. Thus, to make life insurance affordable for all income groups, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, launched the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana in 2015. Here are some facts about this life insurance policy.

Basic features and benefits

The following are the basic features and benefits of the Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

• The PMJJBY insurance policy is a term insurance policy that you can purchase annually.
• You only need to pay a small amount of ₹330 for purchasing and renewing the policy every year
• The policy comes with a maximum sum assured of ₹200,000, paid out to the kin of the policy holder in the event of the unfortunate death of the policy holder due to an accident, ill-health, murder or natural circumstances.
• You can also avail tax-exemptions for investing in life insurance; with ₹150,000 being the maximum exemption you can avail across all investments, so long as you submit Form 15G/15H and don’t invest more than ₹100,000 in life insurance premiums, per annum.
• The policy period for the PMJJBY insurance scheme is typically 1^st June to 31^st May of each year and to receive continuous coverage, you need to renew the policy each year.
• In the event that you are unable to renew the policy, it will be suspended and you can easily renew it again without paying any penalty.

Availing the insurance

In order to apply for the PMJJBY scheme, you can download the form from the official government website. Alternately, you can also visit your bank providing your savings bank account and check if you are eligible for this insurance, after which you can fill the form and submit the necessary documents as listed in the form. You need to be between the ages of 18 years and 50 years to qualify for this life insurance scheme. Also, you need to have an active savings account in the bank where you intend to avail the insurance scheme.

Terms and conditions

Here are the terms and conditions that all PMJJBY policy holders need to follow to qualify for life insurance:

• You need to link your savings account to the insurance policy and ensure you have adequate balances to pay the insurance premium.
• You also need to link your Aadhaar Card to the bank account from which the insurance premium is deducted.
• Even if you have multiple savings accounts in different banks, you can avail this scheme under only one account of one bank.
• You may be required to provide a self-attested medical certificate proving that you are in good health in order to qualify for PMJJBY insurance.
• The insurance claim should be filed by the kin of the policy holder within 30 days of the death of the policy holder.
• You will be required to provide an original copy of the death certificate, proving that the death of the policy holder occurred under natural circumstances, accident or murder. The claim will be rejected in case of death by suicide.

Final word: So, if you are the primary bread winner in your family, make sure you invest in the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. The insurance amount can safeguard your dependants’ financial interest, at least for the foreseeable future.