The insurance regulator has brought in checks to curb potential misselling of marketlinked life insurance policies by agents and intermediaries through the digital mode. Earlier in August, IRDAI had allowed the sale of policies by obtaining consent of customers through electronic means.
In a circular to all life insurers, the regulator has set limits on the amount the agents can solicit on market linked life insurance policies.
“The insurance agents shall not solicit nonsingle premium unitlinked insurance policies for annualised premium exceeding Rs 50,000 or single premium unitlinked insurance policies exceeding Rs 1,00,000,” the regulator said in the circular.
Further IRDAI has also put the onus of verification and due diligence on life insurance companies for sale of policies without requiring wet signa¬tures on the proposal form. A customer, if he or she agrees to a product offered by an agent or an intermediary on behalf of a life insurance company, can affix their digital signa¬ture or validate through a one time password.
This facility is available on polices sold till March 31, 2021 and the initiative was taken on account of difficulties faced by the industry because of the Covid19 pandemic.
“The insurer shall verify at least 3 per cent of sales to make sure they comply with these provisions. The record of verification calls shall be preserved for a period of not less than three years. The insurer shall also maintain verifiable, legally valid evidence of the proposer’s consent in an unalterable and easily retrievable form for a period of six months beyond the term of the policy or until satisfactory settle¬ment of claims, whichever is later,” the regulator said.
Life insurers saw a 31.87 per cent growth in first year premium in October, signifying a pickup in business.
IRDAI has also come out with an exposure draft seeking industry comments for a standard health insurance policy covering vector borne diseases such as Dengue, Malaria, Filaria, KalaAzar, Chikungunya, Japanese En¬cephalitis and Zika Virus.