Why NRI should Invest in Dollar Based Life Insurance or Investment in U A E..

Why NRIs should invest in a Dollar based Life Insurance or Investments in UAE..

As Non Resident Indians (NRI) in UAE, we always prefer to have our Insurance and investments in India, and particularly with Life Insurance Corporation ( LIC ) of India.

LIC is the biggest Insurance company in India and it has the highest claim settlement ratio of 97.42 % on Death claims in the year 2011 -2012, making it the most preferred Insurance company in India.

For a Resident Indian, my recommendation for Life Insurance would always be LIC, but the scenario changes totally for a Non Resident Indian due to the constantly falling Rupee value and other factors discussed below.

The following are some of the benefits of buying a Dollar based Life Insurance plan in UAE from companies like Zurich International Life, Friends Provident International, Alico or Royal London 360;

1. Ideal hedge against the falling Indian Rupee, which has depreciated by 49.17 % since 1st January 1995, posing huge exchange risks to NRI investors.

For NRIs in UAE, Dollar based Insurance and Investment plans are an ideal hedge against falling Indian Rupee.

The falling rupee – how does it affect me?

Assuming you had 1,00,00,000 INR in a term deposit growing at 7.00 % PA in 1995, it would be INR 3,37,99,322.76, on 31st December 2013.

If the same INR 1,00,00,000 was converted on 1st January 1995 into $318,000 and invested, growing at 7.00 %, it would have grown to  $1,074,818.46 or INR 6,67,58,971.56,49.73 % more than the rupee based investment.

AS an NRI, when you have an option of investing in a USD denominated insurance or investment, why would you want to invest in a currency, which is depreciating constantly.

2. Wide Scope of Critical Illness Cover : Insurance plans in India have a limited scope of Critical Illness cover, and the terms of critical illness cover not well defined, leaving an ample room for misinterpretation and mis-selling.

Insurance plans in UAE have a wide and clearly defined scope of Critical Illness cover on par with international standards.

Some companies cover up to 36 Critical illness, including Permanent Total Disability.

3. Offshore Advantage : Most of the insurance plans in UAE are offshore based, hence they are portable around the world,  and the claim proceeds can be paid tax free into the account chosen by the beneficiaries. Being offshore plans, these plans are out of Shari’a law’s purview, hence are preferred by expats in UAE to protect their dependents from loss of income due to death of the insured.

4. Lower Costs : Thanks to the higher life expectancy in UAE, better living conditions and quicker access to emergency medical assistance, the cost of Life insurance is lower in UAE, than in India.

There are many insurance providers in India who provide online term insurance plans like Aviva, HDFC Standard Life, Aegon Religare, Birla Sunlife, max New York, LIC of India, ICICI Prudential, at very attractive rates, but most of these do not cover NRI’s.

Only offline plans from LIC of India, and Brila Sunlife and ICICI prudential online plans cover NRI’s.

5. Simple, Fast and Transparent Claim Process : The claim process is simple, with access to 24/7 international call center assistance from most if the providers, clearly defined claim processes.