The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued a circular on October 10, 2025, ceasing the practice of allowing individual Surveyors and Loss Assessors (SLAs) to add new Lines of Business (LOB) based solely on a categorization letter issued in 2001-02. The previous practice, formalized by a 2020 circular, allowed SLAs with continuous license renewal and relevant old qualifications to add LOBs, even if they hadn’t conducted a survey in that field since 2002. The IRDAI has now determined that the experience and knowledge gained over two decades ago in a specific LOB have become obsolete due to rapid advancements in technology, potentially compromising the fairness of loss assessment. Consequently, the circular dated February 4, 2020, is repealed with immediate effect. Henceforth, individual surveyors seeking to add an LOB must adhere to the eligibility criteria laid out in Regulation 3 and the Proviso under Regulation 27 of the IRDAI (Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors) Regulations, 2015, ensuring updated professional requirements are met.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
Ref. IRDAI/SUR/CIR/MISC/115/10/2025 Dated: 10.10.2025
To all licensed Surveyors and Loss Assessors
Sub: Cessation of the practice of allowing additional line of business/department to surveyor and loss assessors based on categorization letter issued in 2001-02
1. The Authority had carried out the exercise of categorization of those individual surveyors and loss assessors (SLA) who were holding valid surveyor license prior to notification of IRDA Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors (Licensing, Professional requirements and Code of Conduct) Regulations, 2000. The said exercise had categorized an individual SLA in several lines of business/departments (LOB). Thereafter, an individual SLA was allowed to have only 3 LOBs out of the categorized LOBs, on his surveyor license.
2. The Authority, vide Circular Ref. IRDA/SUR/CIR/MISC/042/02/2020 dated 04th Feb, 2020, allowed addition of LOB on Surveyor license of an individual SLA on the basis of categorization letter issued by the Authority, as per para 1 above, who possess pertinent educational qualification and whose license has been continuously renewed by the Authority without break, till filing such modification application. Additionally, the restriction on the number of LOBs on an individual surveyor license was also lifted.
3. The Authority is in receipt of several applications based on para 2 above wherein an individual SLA, who is currently approaching the Authority to add new LOB to his surveyor license, has not carried out any survey in the concerned LOB since the year 2002. Considering the rapid upgradation and advancements in technology during these last 23 years, such experience and knowledge gained prior to 2001-02 in the concerned LOB have become obsolete and the same needs to be updated to ensure that he carries out a fair assessment of an insured loss.
4. In view of the above, it has been decided to stop the practice of allowing additional LOB to individual SLA based on the categorization letter. Therefore, the Circular Ref. IRDAI/SUR/CIR/MISC/042/02/2020 dated 04th Feb 2020 is hereby repealed with immediate effect.
5. Further, the individual surveyors would continue to be eligible for any LOB on his surveyor license, subject to fulfilment of the eligibility criteria given in Regulation 3 of IRDAI (Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors) Regulations, 2015 as amended from time to time.
6. Henceforth, in order to add LOB to the surveyor license, an individual SLA would be required to adhere to the Proviso under Regulation 27 of IRDAI (Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors) Regulations, 2015 as amended from time to time.
This is issued with the approval of the Competent Authority.
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Sudipta Bhattacharya
CGM (Intermediaries – Surveyor)
