For years, policyholders complained that insurers prioritised shareholders over customers. A new Irdai framework seeks to change that by making customer experience a boardroom concern
Very soon, your insurance companies’ chief executive officers (CEO) could well break into a sweat if their subordinates unfairly reject your claims. Under rising public pressure over claim rejections and other complaints, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) recently linked the remuneration of insurer CEOs and top management to how effectively they serve their customers, besides other financial parameters. These include claim responsiveness and grievance redressal, which affect individual policyholders. For instance, under ‘claim responsiveness’, insurers must declare the proportion of claims settled (in full, in part, repudiated or rejected or closed) within 15 days, 30 days, 60 days, and so on.
The rationale