Insurers to provide details of basic features to customers from Jan 1

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said that insurance companies must provide their customers details on the basic features of the policy from 1 January 2024.

The decision is set with an aim to simplify the legalese terms in the insurance contract, as it is important for a policyholder to understand the terms and conditions of the policy that has been purchased.

The regulator has observed several complaints from policyholders due to the asymmetry of information between insurers and the policyholders.

In this backdrop, the existing customer information sheet (CIS) has been revised to include the basic features of the policy in a manner that is easily understood.

The sheet will also be available in the local language at the policyholder's request.

As per the revised sheet, insurers will have to provide the 'name of the insurance product/policy'; 'policy number'; 'type of insurance product/policy'; and 'sum insured'.

They will also be informed about policy coverage, such as hospital expenses, exclusions (what the policy does not cover), waiting period, financial limits of coverage, claims procedure, and details about the grievances/complaints redressal mechanism.

Further, the regulator's statement added that insurers, intermediaries, and agents will forward the sheet to all policyholders and also obtain an acknowledgment regarding the same.