Unit linked insurance plans – a comparative study of selected insurance companies in Haryana and Punjab

The interest shown by people in the Unit Linked Insurance Plans is because of the many benefits these plans offer such as high growth potential, life risk cover, transparency, tax benefits and premium payment flexibility etc. It is one of the best methods of investments if one is living in an economy that is booming and is on the path to growth. The units that are part of the share market are bought with money invested by the investor and as the equity market grows, the money invested by the investor also increases and gives a good return. The present paper focuses on the evaluation of the ULIPs of sampled life insurers operating in the state of Haryana and Punjab, on the basis of the main components of the plans highlighted by the insurers and opinions of the policyholders of sampled companies collected through a questionnaire. The sample has been selected on the basis of purposive-cum-quota based non-probability sampling techniques. To make the analysis meaningful, certain simple and advanced statistical tools like – averages, weighted average, percentage, mean score and chi-square test etc., were applied for analyzing the collected data. The Chi-square test was conducted at 99 percent confidence level or 1 percent level of significance. A five points Likert scale was also used to measure the intensity of the responses of different respondents from various categories towards the selected attributes. The important facts and deficiencies were found out and some viable suggestions are made to make them effective from the view point of both insurers as well as the policyholders.