KYC mandatory for purchasing health, car and other insurance from Jan 1

Until now, sharing KYC documents was a voluntary choice when taking out a policy. However, starting today, the insurers will have to collect KYC documents from their respective customers.

With this new rule, experts believe that the claims process can be faster and smoother as the insurers will have a detailed profile of customers.

For insurance companies, the KYC details can help improve the accuracy of risk assessment and pricing and reduce the risk of fraudulent claims.

In a separate news release, Irdai asked insurers to consider discounting general and health insurance renewals to policyholders who have taken three vaccinations against Covid-19.

The insurance regulator has also asked both life and non-life insurance companies to settle Covid-19-related claims as quickly as possible and to reduce paperwork, the PTI news agency reported.

The regulator also urged insurers to ensure that empaneled hospitals are banned from making deposits for Covid hospitalization, adding that some hospitals admitted to taking deposits for Covid treatment during the first and second wave , despite having a cashless policy.

The insurers should create a war room for Covid-related assistance to all stakeholders for the worst-case scenario, the regulator asked the industry to add that data should be reported in a fixed format so that there is no discrepancy.

On the other hand, the insurers have asked the regulator to look into standardization of the treatment protocol, so that fraud cases are minimized.

More than 2.25 lakh death claims due to Covid were handled by insurance companies till March 2022, Irdai said in its latest annual report.