Reviewed by Artha Research·Last updated 15 April 2026
Term Insurance Calculator India 2026 — How Much Cover Do You Need?
How much term insurance do you actually need in India? Calculate the real life-cover gap across three methods — HLV, income, expenses. Free, 2026.
Your details
We size cover against income replacement, loans, and dependents' future expenses — not a blanket 'X times income' rule.
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Recommended term cover
₹6.3Cr
Fix this first
The Human Life Value gap means dependents would face a real income shock.
Add term cover equal to the gap; prefer pure term, not return-of-premium.
Recommended cover
₹6.3Cr
Cover gap vs. current
₹5.8Cr
Adequacy score
8.0%
Estimated annual premium
₹9,812
Cover-to-income ratio
34.77
Income replacement window
28 yrs
Breakdown
- Income replacement₹2.2Cr34.5%
- Loan cover₹30L4.8%
- Dependents' expenses₹3.8Cr60.7%
Benchmarks
If you were a non-smoker
You
₹9.8K
Benchmark
₹9.8K
Smokers pay roughly 50% more for the same cover.
If you had no outstanding loans
+5.0%You
₹6.3Cr
Benchmark
₹6Cr
Loans bolt directly onto the recommended cover.
What moves the result most
Holding everything else fixed, here is how the headline shifts when each input swings by a typical range.
You are critically under-insured
Your existing term cover is less than a third of the Human Life Value your dependents would need. Fix this before any new investment.
Adequacy score
8.0%
Outstanding loans are not fully covered by life insurance
If anything happens to you, the loan becomes a burden on dependents or co-applicants. Term cover should at minimum absorb the loan balance.
Outstanding loans
₹30L
Next best actions
The result hints at what to look at next. Each link carries your current numbers so you never re-enter them.
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At a glance
- What it does
- Takes the maximum of three standard methods (HLV, income replacement, expense replacement) and subtracts existing cover to show the real life-insurance gap.
- Rule of thumb
- Target 10-15× annual income as sum assured. Below 10× is underinsured for most salaried earners with dependents.
- Premium reality
- Smokers pay ~50% more; female applicants typically get a 10-15% discount. Return-of-premium plans cost 3-4× pure term and rarely beat MF + pure term.
- Best used for
- Sizing cover that clears all outstanding loans plus 15-20 years of dependents' expenses — before locking in a policy.
How It Works
This is the drill-down layer. The flagship flow leads with a recommendation, and this page lets you inspect the underlying model.
- Cover needed = max(HLV, income replacement, expense replacement).
- HLV = annual income × 0.6 × years to retirement, inflation-adjusted.
- Gap = cover needed - existing life cover; verdict grades the gap as adequate, underinsured, or critically underinsured.
Assumptions
The recommendation stays blunt, but the assumptions remain visible.
- HLV uses a 60% dependency ratio — the share of your income your family actually consumes.
- Income-replacement discounts the future income stream to present value; expense-replacement adds outstanding loans and planned milestones.
- Spouse income, if declared, reduces the required cover by its present value.
FAQ
The follow-up questions people usually ask after the main recommendation is already clear.
How much term cover should I actually buy?
For most salaried earners with dependents, 10-15× annual income is the baseline, with the exact number driven by outstanding loans and years to retirement. This tool computes the number using three methods and takes the highest — that's the cover that survives scrutiny.
Should I buy term insurance if I'm single with no dependents?
Usually no — term insurance exists to replace your income for people who depend on it. If no one relies on your earnings and you have no co-signed loans, the premium is better invested. Revisit the moment you have dependents or a joint home loan.
Is return-of-premium term insurance worth it?
Rarely. Return-of-premium plans cost 3-4× a pure term policy for the same cover, and the 'refund' is just your own money given back without interest. A pure term policy with the premium difference invested in mutual funds almost always ends up ahead.
Sources & references
Every formula and assumption above is grounded in these authoritative sources.
Related tools & decisions
Keep going from here — each link carries the same cluster context.
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