Most people usually complain with regard to the total disregard and casualness shown by employees of their insurance companies with regard to nominees of people who had purchased insurance policies from these organizations. They also refuse to clear any claims, particularly in case of term insurance plans, citing several ridiculous reasons at times. The whole point of purchasing term insurance from any insurance company is to ensure the family financially in order to cover up the income loss due to the policy holder’s sudden death. Any rejection/refusal of insurance claims on dubious grounds will lead to the entire purpose of buying insurance being diluted wrongfully along with leading to total harassment of the dependents of the customer who may already be in a tough situation.
Procedure to File an Insurance Complaint against your Company
Filing an Insurance complaint against the insurance company is the best way to get fair treatment in these situations. However, the entire procedure can take up a lot of time and effort on your part. You should first go to the grievance redressal cell of the insurance company prior to filing your complaint with the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India). Always find out the concerned person taking care of grievances of customers at the branch of the insurance company. In case the branch office nearest to you does not account for your complaints, you can consider the next process of writing a complaint about the head office.
The Insurance complaint that mentions your cause for concern and your grief should be backed by vital documents. You should always get a complaint acknowledgement in writing which has the date mentioned on which the insurance complaint was filed. This will increase the liability of the insurer with regard to taking cognizance of the complaint within a period of three days from filing the same and resolving it within a period of 15 days.
Reaching out to IRDAI is something that you should always be careful about. IRDAI’s function is to back insurance companies with regard to their systematic functioning. The responsibility of the regulator is also to safeguard consumer interests while making sure that dependents get claims sanctioned in a timely manner. The consumer affairs department of the IRDAI can be contacted for filing complaints. Consumers can contact at 155255 (toll-free) or 1800 4254 732. An email may also be dispatched to complaints@irda.gov.in. In case one is not conversant with the online framework, a letter may be dispatched to the Consumer Affairs Department, IRDAI, 3-5-817/818, United India Towers, 9th Floor, Hyderguda, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad-500029. Faxes can be sent to the IRDAI office at this number- 040-66789768.
One can file online Insurance complaints on the IGMS (Integrated Grievance Management System). This is an online system for registering online consumer complaints and was launched in 2010 by the IRDAI. The system works as the monitoring option for grievance redressal. IRDAI had made it compulsory for all insurance companies to integrate their online systems for lodging complaints with the IGMS. People who have filed complaints online against their insurance companies can log in to the IGS and track the resolution procedure for complaints online. IRDAI also monitors complaints and the progress in real-time via the IGMS. Policyholders and their nominees can file complaints against their insurance companies/agents/intermediaries about servicing/sales/issues linked to claiming the processing. Customers should always submit all required information including the contact details, policy number and details of the insurance company for grievance redressal in a timely manner.
In case the insurance company has not issued any response to the Insurance complaint made by the customer within 15 days from the filing of the original complaint and in case the customer is not satisfied with the solution provided by the insurance company, he/she should file a complaint with the ombudsman as the next step. The complaint should be in official writing and vital documents. The letter for the complaint should be addressed to the insurance ombudsman with suitable jurisdiction over the office of the insurance company. The dependents/nominees can file complaints in case the policyholder is not present.
When you file a complaint with the ombudsman, it is vital to account for the fact that the ombudsman will have authority over insurance agreements with values lower than Rs. 20 lakh. However, legal heirs of the policyholder or the policyholder himself/herself can also file complaints with courts or consumer forums in case the ombudsman’s decision does not satisfy them. You should first post your complaint with the insurance company’s branch office prior to filing a complaint with the IRDAI. Thereafter, you may have to log in to the IGMS for filing your complaint. The last steps are going to the ombudsman and consumer forum.
If you want to register a complaint regarding to your insurance policy visit: https://www.insurancesamadhan.com/register
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