Policy Holders’ Benefits Under New IRDAI Rules

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) recently issued the Protection of Policyholders’ Interests Regulations, 2017 to protect the interests of the policyholders.

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There are many benefits for the policyholders now which are as follows:

• Insurance providers now have to put terms and conditions of all the insurance products they are selling on their websites. This will help the policy holders to understand the policies better and improve transparency between the two.
• A life insurance policy has to mention the mode of the profits’ payments which could be simple or compound bonus, cash bonus etc. It also needs to include the date of maturity, payable premiums, grace period for the payable premiums, and all the risks involved.
• A policy provider has to either accept or reject a death claim within 30 days from the date of receiving the documents while giving the relevant reasons for the same. If an investigation is necessary for the verification of the claim, they will get 90 days for the same.
• For health claims, the insurers will get 30 days for settlement. If there is a delay, they will have to pay an interest at the standard bank rate along with an additional 2% of the claim amount.
• Premiums for critical health conditions cannot exceed 100% of the basic product now.

The new IRDAI regulations are welcomed by the majority of people, as these are expected to streamline the insurance process in general, and also make the products more affordable for the policy holders.