Once again treading on 'pro-policyholder' foot steps, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has started monitoring claim settlements of both life and non-life insurance companies to detect unwarranted delays in payouts. Heavy penalties would be levied on insurance companies if found guilty, IRDA said.

As a part of its pro-policyholder campaign, IRDA had last year launched the integrated grievance management system wherein customers could register their complaints online and track its status.

The insurance regulator thus now would be classifying complaints into different categories to identify instances of violation/non-compliance by insurance companies so that regulatory action could be taken wherever required. Moreover it depicts to be a step beyond mere facilitation of complaint resolution.

What It means?

In our opinion, if the above pro-investor measure is implemented by IRDA, policyholders will experience fast expedition of their insurance claims. Moreover, in cases where the claim is repudiated by the insurer, policyholders will obtain a substantial explanation (from the insurer) for the same, citing the reasons therein. This thus will also put an end to the mal-practices followed by insurance companies, where they reject claims on insufficient grounds.