The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has asked all the insurance companies – life and general insurance – to put in place in all their offices a system and a procedure for receiving, registering and disposing of grievances within two weeks of receiving the complaint.
In guidelines issued on Wednesday, the insurance regulator asked insurance companies to 'have a Board approved grievance redressal policy which should be filed with IRDA.'
According to the guidelines, every insurer should have a designated grievance officer of a senior management level -- either the chief executive officer or the compliance officer of the company.
The guidelines will come into effect from August 1, 2010.
The new norms require the insurance companies to send a written acknowledgement to a complainant within three working days of the receipt of the grievance. The acknowledgement should contain the name and designation of the officer who will deal with the grievance and also details of the insurer's grievance redressal procedure and the time taken for resolution of disputes.
On resolution of the complaint, insurers are also required to communicate the resolution to the complainant. In case if an insurance company offers redress or rejects the complaint and gives reasons for doing so, it must inform the complainant about how he/she may pursue the complaint, if dissatisfied.
If it does not receive a reply within 8 weeks from the date of receipt of response by the insured/policyholder, the complaint would be regarded as closed.
Insurance companies must have automated systems that will enable online registration and tracking of status of grievances by complainants and periodical reports. IRDA would define the standard system from time to time in this regard.
"Insurers should also have in place a system to receive and deal with all kinds of calls including voice/e-mail, relating to grievances, from prospects and policyholders. The system should enable and facilitate the required interfacing with IRDA's system of handling calls/e-mails," the guidelines say.
