IRDAI Relaxes Burden on Policyholders For Renewal Payments Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

New Delhi: Due to the country-wide lockdown and much-needed ‘social distancing’ to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, many people have been facing difficulty reaching out to insurance companies for their policies and claims. To ensure that services do not get interrupted, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked all insurers to ensure the continuity of the business through digital or telephonic means.

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The insurance regulator has also asked the companies to display all information on their websites about the functioning of their offices and alternate arrangements made for premium payments, renewal, settlement of claims and lodging of other service requests.

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In case of board meetings of insurers, IRDAI said the meetings due till June 30 could be held through video-conferencing or other audio-visual means.

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The IRDAI has requested company employees to be sensitive to the needs of policyholders in these trying times.

Further, the IRDAI has permitted life insurers to provide their customers an additional window of up to 30 days for paying renewal premiums in view of disruptions caused by coronavirus lockdown.

“In case of health insurance policies, the insurers may condone delay in renewal up to 30 days without deeming such condonation as a break in policy,” the IRDAI stated.

“To ensure proper service to policyholders and customers, all the insurers have been asked to maintain continuity of business operations through possible alternate modes including telephonic and digital contact,” it added.