Delaying term insurance? Premiums jump nearly 50% in just five years

Buying term cover in your 30s instead of 20s can inflate costs steeply, with premiums rising up to 50% in five years and adding lakhs to your long-term outgo

Buying a term insurance plan early in life is not just about securing financial protection sooner, it is also about saving significantly on premiums. Data from Policybazaar shows that even a short delay in purchasing cover can mean paying much more, every month, for decades.

 

Premiums rise with age

Term insurance pricing is linked directly to age. The older you are when you buy the policy, the higher the risk for the insurer, and therefore the higher the premium. For instance, a male salaried non-smoker seeking a Rs 1 crore cover for 30 years under regular monthly pay will see a sharp jump:

 

 

• At age 25: premiums start as low as Rs 699/month (Bajaj Allianz eTouch) 
• At age 30: the range is Rs 881–Rs 1,088/month 
• At age 35: the range escalates to Rs 1,307–Rs 1,527/month

 

Take ICICI Prudential’s iProtect Smart Plus plan. The premium is Rs 972/month at age 30, but jumps to Rs 1,426/month at age 35. That’s a 47 per cent increase in just five years.

 

What experts say

According to Varun Agarwal, head of term insurance at Policybazaar, “In one’s 20s, premiums rise gradually by around 3-4 per cent each year. In the 30s, especially closer to age 35–40, the yearly increase steepens to about 6-8 per cent. These are broad averages; actual increases vary across insurers and policy terms.”

 

He adds that the curve accelerates with age.

 

“The increase is noticeably sharper once you cross into your mid-30s and beyond. Insurers price policies based on mortality risk, which rises non-linearly with age. They jump faster at higher ages as the probability of health issues or mortality increases,” Agarwal explains.

 

Other factors at play

Age sets the base premium, but insurers also look at other underwriting factors.

 

“Tobacco use, for instance, typically makes premiums 1.5 times higher than for non-smokers,” says Agarwal. Health metrics such as BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and family medical history also matter. Occupation and lifestyle are factored in too, risky jobs or hobbies may attract extra loadings, while women and non-smokers often benefit from lower rates.

 

Calculation: 25 vs 35

If you buy at 25 instead of 35, the difference compounds over three decades.

 

• At 25 (ICICI iProtect Smart Plus): Rs 740/month, Rs 2.66 lakh total over 30 years 
• At 35 (ICICI iProtect Smart Plus): Rs 1,426/month, Rs 5.13 lakh total over 30 years 
• That’s an extra outgo of Rs 2.47 lakh simply for waiting ten years.

Bottom line

Delaying a term insurance purchase means locking yourself into higher costs for decades. As Agarwal points out, the increase is gradual in your 20s but becomes much steeper from your 30s onward. For young earners, the earlier the policy is bought, the lighter the long-term burden on the wallet.