There are 17 life insurance companies in india including LIC.and many more to be launched. There is no "too good" or "too bad " products in any company. I would like to point out the following facts;
Fund management charges: Charged yearly by the company by cancellation of units. varies between 1% to 3%. This amount goes to the fund manager. may or may not be the company staff. He/ she is the person who invest your funds in different portfolio. He has to forecast the market conditions and switch the fund to get max benefit or to minimise the loss. when it is booming, you wont think about him and when there is a dip, you will bombard him. after all he has to be paid right?
Allocation charges: **charged by the company at the time of premium payment. varies between 0% to 70%(!)of premium. This is a direct revenue to the company.
THE GAME: Now u will think about a plan with zero FUM and zero allocation charge. Boss these are business people. If the FUM is low, Alloc charge will be higher. If there is no Alloc charge, there will be atleast 2.5% FUM. They will say ur money can be taken back after 3 years, but surrender charges will be applicable. for zero Alloc and less FUM plans, u will get ur full amount only after 10 years.
Remember, these charges are all related. If u need a good plan consult directly with a manager or a good tchno savy financial conultant