There is some good news for intermediaries. Now, insurance agents can easily shift from one insurance company to another.
To do so, all they need to do is surrender their agency license with the existing insurer. The insurance company will issue a cessation certificate within 15 days from the date of surrender of agency license. Subsequently, they can apply for the license with an insurance company of their choice by submitting cessation certificate along with other supporting documents. However, the new license will be issued after 90 days of issuance of cessation certificate with the old insurer.
As of now, agents need to apply fresh if they wish to migrate to another insurance company. That means, the agents are required to first surrender their existing agency license through resignation. The insurance company cancels the license after a few days. After this, agents who wish to shift to another insurer are required to complete the mandatory IRDAI training and pass the examination.
A Mumbai based insurance advisor said that the move will help advisors to rethink their tie ups. “A few large insurance companies offer term insurance at an extremely high price. These companies have priced their products on the back of their strong agency force. However, agents can now think of moving from such companies to the companies offering similar products at a more reasonable price.”
Another Mumbai based IFA believes that the industry can witness migration of agents to private sector insurers. “Private sector insurers are better when it comes to agent servicing. Many agents having empanelment with state owned insurers may join private insurers to avail better services.”
The move has come after IRDAI incorporated a few amendments in the guidelines on appointment of insurance agents pursuant to Insurance Law Amendment Bill.
There are 20.17 lakh agents in the insurance industry as on March 2016.
