Come July 1, 2019, insurance claim settlement will be more transparent. In a circular, IRDAI has asked insurance companies to keep their policyholders updated on each step involved in claim settlement process.
IRDAI said, “Clear and transparent communications play a vital role in servicing of insurance policies and in ensuring that the benefits of insurance policies flow to the beneficiaries in a timely manner. Further, when it comes to claims, there is a need to make available a tracking mechanism for policyholders so as to enable them to know the status of their claims.”
Insurance companies will have to update their policyholders about status of claims through SMS and email. However, insurers will have to maintain privacy of email id and phone number.
Here is the step-by-step communication process to be followed by insurers
- Insurers will have to generate and share unique reference number with policyholders soon after they receive claim request
- With the reference number, policyholders can track claim process at every stage on the insurance company website or app
- Simultaneously, insurance companies will have to give step-by-step update on claim status through email and SMS
Further, IRDAI has asked insurance companies to keep their policyholders updated on other services such as proposal registration, renewal reminders, details of bonus, NAV of ULIPs and so on.
In addition, the insurance regulator has also asked insurers to create awareness and caution them about spurious calls through SMSs and emails.