Nothing in life remains constant. May it be your day-to-day life, the weather, environment or for the matter of fact the Government in power. Everything changes at its own time. Change is inevitable and the only way to move ahead successfully in life is to accept change willingly. A sudden change in one’s routine may make him or her uncomfortable for a while but slowly and steadily the new way becomes the routine and things go smoothly once again.

Similarly, when the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) directed all the life insurance firms to re-file all existing products according to its new product design guidelines, the insurers were left uncomfortable. Moreover, recently the regulator has directed insurers to withdraw by October 1, 2012 all the existing products based on the earlier guidelines. Thus, going by these guidelines it is feared that the life insurance industry may be left with only a handful of products from the month of October 2012.

Also, the fact that the IRDA is yet to come out with the final guidelines on product designs, has added to the agony of the insurers and leading to fears that the industry would not be able to offer any products - whether linked or non-linked - to customers from October 2012. Besides, the IRDA is not exactly known for providing fast clearance for products either.

According to the insurers, it generally takes about two weeks to file a product. Considering an insurer typically has more than 25 insurance products in its portfolio, it is virtually impossible to re-file all the products within three months. Also, given that the IRDA takes at least 60-90 days to approve a product, there may be at best one or two products an insurer would be able to offer from October 2012. This, they (insurers) believe, would adversely impact the growth of new business premium in the second half of the financial year 2012-13.

What should existing insurance policyholders do?

Existing policyholders in any of the insurance products need not worry. The directive issued by the IRDA will be applicable to only new insurance policy being bought by policyholder. Thus, if you have already bought an insurance policy and are paying your premiums on time, there is nothing to worry about. But in case if you are a first time buyer, then you may have a limited choice in buying an insurance product starting from the month of October 2012.

Our view:

In our view any change brought about by IRDA which ultimately results in the well-being of the policyholders is welcome. However, IRDA should also fast track its approval process for the new or re-filed products, thereby making things conducive for the insurers as well. Care should be taken by the IRDA while finalising the new product design, as this shall be the blueprint for all the insurance policies going forward. Any loopholes may give rise to mis-selling of insurance products by self-centred agents.


Do you think the IRDA should provide faster clearance for insurance products in the betterment of the insurance industry? Let us know your comments or post them on our Facebook page / Twitter page.

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Comments
webmaster@uni-mainz.de Jul 25, 2012 Because it HAS been found in every country on earth that men, eeapcislly young men under age 25 are responsible for the majority of car crashes, and the deadliest car crashes. Its unequivocal. You don't have a right to car insurance, ride your bike or take public transport if you don't want to pay.After that age, rates are the same. Most recently, during the debate over health care, another nasty reality was brought back into the spotlight: Many insurance companies charge women higher premiums and/or impose harsher terms (by rejecting claims or curtailing coverage), eeapcislly for those of childbearing age. Examples ranged from 22% to 50% higher, depending on age and state .
vvbkrishnan@gmail.com Jun 25, 2012 irda should be proactive and not reactive. there should be total transparency and charges must be minimal even for traditional policies. there should be minimum guaranteed returns, (co-related to bank interest). No one would like to lose a single penny from their premium payments.
deeprag@eim.ae Jun 26, 2012 I agree with your comment about misselling of product by self centered agents. We were sold ULIP pension single premium policy . We were told to encash it after three and half year when NAV is favourable. Now we have encashed it and are told that not only the gain but entire amount is taxable in one year. Please note the original amount was not taxable when invested as we are NRI. I want to raise the issue that when selling the products it should be compulsory for the agent to advise on the tax issue. Now they are saying that they are there to guide in this matter. I could not find link on IRDA site to complain about it. Please help.
research@personalfn.com Jun 27, 2012 Dear Ms. Ghanekar, In order to register your grievances on insurance policy related matters with the IRDA, you could visit this link: http://www.igms.irda.gov.in/ Alternatively, you could email them on complaints@irda.gov.in or  call them on the toll free number 155255. Recently (on June 25, 2012) the IRDA has also laucnhed  a website: www.policyholder.gov.in, to educate policyholders. We suggest you to read the same as well. With Warm Regards, Team PersonalFN
research@personalfn.com Jun 27, 2012 Dear Ms. Ghanekar, In order to register your grievances on insurance policy related matters with the IRDA, you could visit this link: http://www.igms.irda.gov.in/ Alternatively, you could email them on complaints@irda.gov.in or  call them on the toll free number 155255. Recently (on June 25, 2012) the IRDA has also laucnhed  a website: www.policyholder.gov.in, to educate policyholders. We suggest you to read the same as well. With Warm Regards, Team PersonalFN

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