Insurers asked to give details of unclaimed amount

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has asked insurers to upload by January 2015 information on unclaimed amounts over Rs.1,000 due to policy holders/legal heirs.

Amending its earlier circular, the IRDA has now issued a new circular under which the insurers were told to provide information on unclaimed amount over Rs.1,000 under any policy in their website.

According to IRDA, a policy holder or his/her dependents can find out details about unclaimed amount by feeding the policy holder's name, his/her date of birth (compulsory fields), policy number and the PAN number of the policyholder.

Unclaimed amount are the amount that is lying with the insurer beyond six months from the date of settlement. It includes amount payable to a policyholder as a claim - death/maturity, premium refund, survival benefits, unadjusted premium deposit.

The IRDA has asked the insurers to upload the unclaimed amount data as Dec 31, 2014 on their website by Jan 2015. The insurers can update the data subsequently on half yearly basis.