Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
Circular No. IRDAI/CAD/CIR/MISC/105/5/2022 | Dated: 26th May, 2022
To all Insurers
Subject: Adhering the timelines of award settlement as per Rule 17(6) of the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017.
Ref: Authority circular Nos. IRDAI/CAD/MISC/063/03/2016 dated 31-03-2016 & IRDAI/CAD/MISC/038/03/2019 dated 31-03-2019
The Authority undertook comprehensive review of pending cases of all offices of Insurance Ombudsman. As per the data obtained from Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, there are total 711 Insurance Ombudsman awards that are pending for compliance, of which, 162 awards are pending for more than one year, which is rather unsatisfactory.
Insurers are therefore advised to adhere to the timelines of award settlement as per Rule 17(6) of the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017. In case of appeal against the award issued by the Insurance Ombudsman, the insurers are advised to inform the complainant as per Authority’s circular ref. IRDA/CAD/CIR/MISC/063/03/2016 dated 01-04-2016 and also inform the respective Insurance Ombudsman about the same. Insurers attention is drawn to Authority’s Circular ref. IRDA/CAD/CIR/MISC/038/03/2019 dated 05-03-2019 on the above subject matter wherein the insurers were cautioned that non-compliance of awards passed by Insurance Ombudsman within the prescribed timelines would be viewed very seriously.
In view of the above, Insurers are hereby advised to ensure settlement of all Insurance Ombudsman awards pending for more than 30 days.
(Randip Singh Jagpal)
Executive Director
