The importance of insurance has been re-established to the common Indians, with the arrival of LIC. In fact, Life Insurance Corporation of India is regarded to be synonymous to the commoners. This company has come up with a line of lucrative plan, to secure the budget of general inhabitants of the country, without disturbing their budget.
LIC has been the leader in the introduction of Premium payments online. It saves one from the worries of selecting the ideal agent who will take the responsibility of paying the Premiums on someone’s behalf. It also minimizes the additional charges of hiring an agent. It is also environment friendly move to reduce consumption of paper- a go green initiative.
It was from 1964, that LIC offices took the step of computerization. In the 1980’s offices of LIC had microprocessor based computers looking after data banks. And in 1990’s the Standard Computer Packages were developed to look after salary savings schemes.
It was from July 1995, that LIC introduced the online service to Agents and Policy holders alike. It was through these services that one could get instantaneous
- Policy status report
- Ready acceptance of Premiums
- Policy revival quotation
- Loan quotation
The Metro Area Network starting with Mumbai and other cities have upgraded to computerization services.
All 7 zonal offices and all MAN centers are connected with computer networks, to view data and pay premiums from any MAN branch. There is the Wide Area Network working in tandem with MAN.
The INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEMS have made operational by which customers can via telephone get information related to next premium due, status report and other services.
The LIC online websites have been turned into interactive ones with customer service helpline catering to various queries of customers.
There are 11 service providers linked up with LIC to enable customers pay their policy premiums online without any fees.
For example LIC premiums payment with SBI Debit card is regarded to be a user friendly process, starting with;
- Logging on to SBI Card website,
- Registering for Bill Pay Service
- Opening Bill Pay Application
- Submitting the registration form
- Logging in to Bill Pay Application
- Searching for Biller name
- Adding LIC as the Biller
- Pay the LIC Premium
How to go about with LIC Online Option:
- Creating User Name on LIC website
- Enrolling the policy
- Payment of LIC premium
- Debit Card / Credit Card
- Service charges online
- Premium receipts online
Preventing Phishing:
- While doing online banking or paying premiums online the following steps need to be taken to prevent fraudsters from gaining access to one’s account details.
- Type the LIC Policy URL when taking care of online policy transactions.
- Multiple windows should not be opened at the same time.
- Never should one’s account number, user ID or password be given to pop-up queries, for they may be sent by account hackers.
- The browser should be shut down after working on the dealing website.
- One should use the anti-virus software intermittently.
- Public systems should not be logged into because there are more chances of phishing.
Payment of Premiums without Logging in on LIC Website:
This is a new venture of LIC started from 2013. The user is finally allowed pay using any card and through any bank. The company is always striving to ease out the hazards of handling plans and policies, for the benefits of the users.
One has to provide details in the online form like, Policy Number, Premium, Date of Birth, E-mail ID, Mobile number and inserting an image as shown in a box like feature at the end. Then one has to click submit, to make the transaction complete. This is a safe and secure medium of transaction with reliability. A digitally typed receipt is sent to one’s e-mail address. The criteria of such a transaction are that the policy holder himself should log in without allowing any third person. If retrying to enter the details one should first ensure that the amount of premium entered in the first try has not been debited from his or her account already.
This site addresses points raised by agents like non acceptance of password/ log in Id, cancellation of invoice, technical problem resulting in double deposit instead of single one, and non working of portal.
When going through agents, only ULIP policies can be paid. For other insurance policies the agent comes to collect payment 30 days in advance. There are commission charges too when appointing an agent on a policy holder’s behalf. The online system ensures, less delay, saving time and energy and getting results and feedback promptly. The modern trend is to rely more on on-line payment of Premiums.
