An individual ideally requires two types of insurance -- one that shields against hospitalisation, accidents or accidental death, and incidents such as fire and burglary.

The other should cover the family in case of his death, which also in certain cases provide lump sum monetary benefits to the family.

While the first type of policy is provided by one set of companies -- the general insurers, the second type is provided by life insurance companies.

Someone requiring both types of policies would have to catch hold of agents from two different companies and keep tab of his premium payment dates and renewals -- a difficult task, you'll agree.

But not any more.

Public sector National Insurance Company has, under a unique initiative, tied-up with private sector Birla Sunlife Insurance to provide bundled products that offer both life and general insurance cover.

These would be available from both the companies.

The package provides the option of choosing at least one life and one general insurance policy from a bundle of six products.

National would provide three policies to start with -- Mediclaim, personal accident and householder's insurance, while Birla Sunlife would provide money back, endowment, term and credit protection.

This means, there are at least nine possible combinations of life and general products.

Consumers also have the option of buying more than one product from each group.

"The combination would save the customer from running to different companies for his insurance requirements. The package was designed to meet the major insurance requirements of an individual from a single source," explained officials from National Insurance.

Citing an example, the official said a combination of money back from Birla Sunlife and householders' policy from National would satisfy an individual'ss requirement for monetary protection to family against accidental death as well as casualty to his building and property at the same time.

The money back policy will provide regular returns and a lump sum payment in case the policy matures. And in the unfortunate event of accidental death, the family gets the sum assured.

The Mediclaim policy shields an individual from monetary losses in case of hospitalisation, while personal accident and accidental death benefit provides monetary benefit in case of accidental death or disability.

The householder's policy shields the individual's property from fire burglary, flood, breakdown of home appliances, electronic equipment and domestic employee liability.

From Birla Sunlife, a money back policy would provide equal returns periodically and a lump sum benefit in case the policy matures. In the case of death in the policy period the insured's family gets the sum assured. Endowment, on the other hand, provides lump sum amounts on maturity to the individual or to his family.

Term policies require the policy holder to pay an lump sum amount without any returns but his family receives a predetermined sum in case of accidental death.

"This package of six policies exhaustively cover almost all insurance requirement of an individual. The life as well as the non-life policies also have extra benefits (read riders) added to it which can be chosen through some extra premium payment," the official said.

The idea is to sell products from both the companies initially and yet retain their identity. "At a later stage we plan to design products that will have all the component built in them," the official said.

That would require the permission from Insurance Regulatory Development Authority -- the apex body that control functioning of insurance companies. For it would be a new kind of product, non-existent in India as of now.

Pick your bundle of joy Annual premiums for a 30-year old individual for a policy with sum assured of Rs 2 lakh. Under a bundled policy, products from the two insurance segments below can be combined for better coverage. GENERAL INSURANCE POLICIES Mediclaim: Rs 1,414 with third-party agreement Fire: Rs 2,106 (Accident coverage of Rs 1 lakh, fire and burglary for building property value Rs 10,00,000 and contents value for Rs 5,00,000.) Personal accident: Rs 104, with medical benefits for 10 years. LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES Money back: Premium Rs 4,458 Maturity sum Rs 2,44,580 for 10 years plus bonus as and when would be declared Endowment policy: Premium Rs 6,516 up to 60 years Term policy: Premium Rs 4,380 or less, benefit period 10 years Note: Premiums are indicative and will vary with age and period.