Insurers to file 'grievance redressal policies' with IRDA

KOLKATA: Not just new insurance policies, from now on, all insurers will also have to file their ‘ grievance redressal policies’ with the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority ( Irda) after they have been cleared by their respective board of directors for the regulators’ clearance before they are implemented at the insurers’ end.

The regulator has even defined grievance and complaints. Grievance or complaints, according to Irda, is any communication that expresses dissatisfaction about an action or lack of action, about the standard of service or deficiency of service, of an insurance company or any intermediary.

What’s more, every insurer will have to appoint a grievance officer from a senior management level — either a CEO or the compliance officer of the company. Each type of grievance will be required to have a definite time limit (read: turn around time — TAT) within which it needs to be solved. Additionally, there will be a definite system and a procedure for receiving, registering and disposing grievances in each of its branches. Failure to stick to the time frame will attract penalties from the regulator.

While insurers may lay down their own TAT, they will have to ensure that a written acknowledgement to a complaint has to be sent within three working days of the receipt of the grievance.

It will also have to contain the details of grievance redressal procedure and the time taken for resolution of disputes. However, if the complaint is resolved within three days, it will have to be communicated to the individual along with the acknowledgement.

In case the problem is not resolved within three days — the time for sending the acknowledgement — the insurer will have to mandatorily resolve it within two weeks of its receipt and send a final letter of resolution. However, if the insurer is not able to redress the complaint or rejects it, it will have to provide a reason for doing so. Additionally, the insurer will also inform the individual on how to pursue the complaint if s/he is dissatisfied.

Interestingly, if the insurer does not hear anything within eight weeks from the date of receipt of the response, it will be inferred that the problem has been resolved.

Additionally, insurers will have to have automated systems that will enable online registration, status tracking of such complaints. The complaint system should integrate seamlessly with the regulators’ online systems.