₹456 a year for ₹4 lakh of cover: PMJJBY and PMSBY

₹456 a year — less than ₹40 a month. About one tea-stall bill. For that, two government insurance schemes can give your family up to ₹4 lakh.

• PMJJBY (Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana) — life cover. ₹436 a year.
• PMSBY (Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana) — accident cover. ₹20 a year.

Both have run since 2015. Every May the premium is cut from millions of bank accounts — and many of those people don’t even know they are insured.

PMJJBY: life cover for ₹436

• What it pays: ₹2 lakh to the nominee if the insured person dies — from any cause, illness or accident.
• Who can join: anyone aged 18 to 50 with a savings account at a bank or post office.
• How long: join before 50 and you can renew every year until 55.
• The first 30 days: for new members, death from illness in the first 30 days is not covered. Death by accident is covered from day one.

Joining partway through the year costs less than the full ₹436:

• June–August: ₹436
• September–November: ₹342
• December–February: ₹228
• March–May: ₹114

So joining today (October) costs ₹342. From 1 June onwards it is the full ₹436 each year.

PMSBY: accident cover for ₹20

• What it pays:
  • Death in an accident: ₹2 lakh
  • Permanent loss of both eyes, both hands or both feet (or one eye plus one hand or foot): ₹2 lakh
  • Permanent loss of one eye, one hand or one foot: ₹1 lakh
• Who can join: any bank account holder aged 18 to 70.
• The premium: always the full ₹20, even mid-year. Cover starts the day it is debited.
• What it doesn’t cover: death from illness, suicide or deliberate self-harm, and temporary injuries you recover from.

What the two do together

They are separate policies, and each pays on its own. Say Ramesh, 35, has both:

• Ramesh dies of an illness: ₹2 lakh from PMJJBY.
• Ramesh dies in a road accident: ₹2 lakh from PMJJBY + ₹2 lakh from PMSBY = ₹4 lakh.
• An accident leaves one hand permanently unusable: ₹1 lakh from PMSBY.

At ₹456 a year, this is some of the cheapest cover in India.

How to join

• Fill in a form at the bank or post office where you have a savings account, or find it in net banking / your bank’s app under “Insurance” or “Social Security Schemes”.
• Aadhaar is the main KYC.
• Always name a nominee. That is who receives the money.
• Agree to auto-debit, so it renews by itself every year.
• Forms are also on jansuraksha.gov.in, in Odia and many other languages.

One person, one account. Even if you bank in several places, you can join each scheme through only one account. Joining twice does not pay twice — and the extra premium is not refunded.

How to check if you already have it

Look at your passbook or statement for the last week of May. A ₹436 debit marked “PMJJBY” and a ₹20 debit marked “PMSBY” mean you are covered. If unsure, ask your bank — they give an acknowledgement slip, and that slip is your certificate of insurance.

When the cover stops

The policy year runs 1 June to 31 May, and the premium is debited towards the end of May. These slip-ups quietly end many people’s cover:

• No money in the account in May. Keep at least ₹456 there. If the premium isn’t debited, you aren’t covered.
• Closing the account. The insurance is tied to that account.
• Crossing the age limit. PMJJBY ends at 55, PMSBY at 70.

If the cover lapses, you can join again later — before 50 for PMJJBY.

How to claim

The nominee claims, at the insured person’s bank branch. Tell the bank as soon as you can.

• PMJJBY: claim form, death certificate, the nominee’s Aadhaar and bank details.
• PMSBY (accidental death): all of the above, plus the police FIR and post-mortem report.
• PMSBY (disability): a disability certificate from a government doctor (civil surgeon).

Claim forms are at the bank and on jansuraksha.gov.in.

The most important step: tell your family

Insurance that your family doesn’t know about never gets claimed. A lot of money sits unclaimed this way. Tell them today — which bank, which account, who the nominee is. Keep the acknowledgement slip with the household’s important papers.

Is this enough?

No. ₹2 lakh can carry a family for a few months, not for years. Anyone whose income the family depends on usually needs cover of 10–15 times their yearly income — and that comes from a separate term plan. Keep insurance and investing separate: a policy that promises to do both usually does neither well.

These two schemes are not health insurance either. They pay nothing towards hospital bills.

But for anyone with no insurance at all, this is the easiest first step. ₹456 a year. Open your bank app today and check.

Sources: Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance (jansuraksha.gov.in); PMSBY scheme rules; Bank of Baroda’s PMJJBY scheme details. Premiums at these rates since 2022. Last checked: 23 October 2026.

This letter is for education only. It is not investment advice. Markets go up and down. Decide from your own goals, time, and how much risk you can live with.