ICICI to redesign 8 ULIP prod to adhere to IRDA guidelines

New Delhi, Apr 17 (UNI) Falling in line with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority's guidelines on Unit-Linked Insurance Policy (ULIP) schemes, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance today said it will redesign most ot its products to adhere to the new rules.

''We plan to redesign 7-8 of our ULIP products out of the total 12 according to the guidelines, as 80 per cent of our sales comes from ULIP linked schemes,'' ICICI Prudential MD and CEO Shikha Sharma told reporters here.

She was speaking at the launch of the new insurance product -- 'Cancer Care' -- designed for financial assistance for the early and advanced stages of cancer conditions and recovery from them.

While speaking on the expansion plans, Ms Sharma said, ''we are looking at launching more products and schemes in Life, Pension and Health-related fields.'' On the Insurance industry in India, she said, ''Our Life Insurance business has 1,200 crore capital, and we do have adequate resources to bring in capital towards the company.'' Commenting on expansion plans in the Pension segment, Ms Sharma said, ''We do expect pension plans to increase. At present we have three plans -- Endowment, Capital Guarantee and ULIP plan.'' IRDA has introduced the ULIP guidelines, to be effective from July 1, 2006, to increase transparency for customers and give the product a long-term character.

According to the guidelines, the death benefit payable or sum assured under the single-premium product has to be at least 125 per cent of the single premium paid.

'Cancer Care', which is the third product launched by ICICI Prudential after 'Health Assure' and 'Health Assure Plus', can be brought for a coverage amount of Rs 5-25 lakh, and covers direct as well as ancillary expenses that are associated with cancer treatments.

A man aged 30 years, can buy Rs 10 lakh cover upto the age of 65 years, for a premium as low Rs 3310 per annum while for a woman of similar age and term, the premium stands at Rs 5580 per annum.

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