 "Ahmedabad plane crash: Life insurers speed up claim settlement for victims")
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) on Friday issued an advisory asking insurance companies to accelerate and ease the claims settlement process for the claimants in the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.
The regulator has directed the insurers that no claim should be denied, or delayed citing procedural formalities in the case of confirmed deceased individuals from the passenger list and persons at the affected buildings of the crash area.
To fast-track claims, Irdai has mandated insurers to obtain the authenticated list of victims of the crash from relevant authorities, verify the details as available in the database of the companies on issuance of overseas medical insurance policies, personal accident policies and life insurance policies.
Irdai has also asked to waive FIR and post-mortem reports.
In addition, Irdai has asked a dedicated joint cell to be formed by both Life Insurance Council and General Insurance Council be established near the hospital where the BJ Medical College victims are being treated to provide necessary support by disseminating the information to the insurers immediately on any assistance for health insurance or life insurance policies.
Each insurer is also asked to nominate a nodal office at senior level who shall coordinate with the joint cell for speedy settlement of claims of their insurance company.
Further, the regulator has also asked insurance companies to submit a report to Irdai from June 16, 2025 on weekly basis for a month regarding the same with both the council also publishing the insurer-wise summary level claims settlement data on their websites.
Meanwhile, major life insurance companies, including Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, and HDFC Life are expediting insurance claim settlements for policyholders affected by the Air India crash. LIC announced many concessions to mitigate the hardships of the claimants of LIC Policies.
“In lieu of death certificates, any evidence in Government Records of death of the policyholder due to the plane crash or any compensation paid by Central/State Government/Airline Authorities will be accepted as proof of death. All efforts will be taken to ensure that the claimants are reached out and claims are settled expeditiously to the affected families,” LIC said.
Similarly, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, has established a dedicated special claims settlement desk to prioritise the processing of death and disability claims for its customers impacted due to this tragedy.
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance said, “To simplify the process, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has listed a minimal documentation process that nominees, legal heirs or policyholders need to submit to process their claims. In case the Death Certificate is not immediately available, a certificate issued by the municipal authority or hospital will also be accepted to initiate the claim process along with nominee KYC and bank mandate.”
According to HDFC Life, a claim can be initiated by nominees/legal heirs of policyholders by simply providing proof of death issued by the local government, police or hospitals.