For those facing problems with life insurance claim settlements, better times are here.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has stepped up its focus on the management of grievances of policy-holders and is conducting checks on insurance companies on a regular basis.

“There have been many complaints of claim refusals and delayed settlements of late. We have stepped up the monitoring of grievance management. We are picking up complaints on a random basis and finding out how the complaint is redressed by the insurer concerned,” a top IRDA official told BusinessLine.

Special IRDA teams now visit insurance companies. Last month, they visited about 10 insurers.

“The teams were primarily checking with a focus on Claims (Life/Riders/Group)/Surrenders for the established players and new business related categories including denial of free look refunds for the new players,” the official said.

“We are also looking at whether the insurer raises requirements in the case of claim/any other benefit within 15 days from the date of intimation and settles within one month where investigation is not required, and settles/repudiates within six months from the date of intimation where investigation is required,” he added. The Authority receives 400-500 complaints a month. Policy-holders can also complain directly to their insurer, the status of which is to be reflected on its Web site.

“The Authority is also monitoring the action taken on these complaints,” the official said.

Insurance Ombudsmen in different regions are another avenue for grievance redress.

Call centre

The IRDA is also setting up a call centre for registering grievances on policy-related matters. It recently selected Sparsh BPO Services to provide call centre services that will be operational in a couple of weeks.

“The call centre will provide an easy and convenient way to bring complaints to the notice of the IRDA,” the official said.

In addition, a web-based integrated grievance management system, to be maintained by IT major Wipro, will also be introduced this month. The system would track complaints received by individual insurers through a real-time connectivity with the portals of 43 life and general insurers at any time.