Insurance regulator IRDA on Thursday asked life insurers not to levy any charge on customers if they surrender their policies from fifth year.
Buying a cover at a late age is expensive; the benefits, too, are limited.
Purchase health insurance at an early age, before you incur a disease, as this makes access to health insurance difficult and raises the premium significantly.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority plans to introduce guidelines soon on transfer (also called assignment) of insurance policies after the Insurance Act is amended.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda) is planning to issue a notice to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to stop the latter from allowing policy holders to nominate "strangers" (those who are not close relatives) and religious institutions as beneficiaries of life policy claims.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India has clamped down on excessive discounts on fire
Firm offers no-pain switch from company cover.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority on Wednesday announced that it would lift pricing controls on motor insurance, along with other lines of business currently under tariff, with effect from January 1, 2007.
After its successful launch of telecom business, Reliance is likely to revive its plans to foray into yet another green-field area -- life insurance -- by March this year.
The premiums for third-party motor insurance may rise by 50-80 per cent this year.
In Debasish Panda's last board meeting as chairperson of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), the regulator approved the "R2" licence for Kamlesh Goyal and Prem Watsa-backed Value Attics Reinsurance, making it the first private-sector Indian reinsurer after GIC Re, the public-sector reinsurer. "The authority reviewed and approved the R2 application of Value Attics Reinsurance, making it the first private-sector reinsurer after GIC Re, the public-sector reinsurer.
Regulator Irdai on Friday directed SBI Life Insurance Company to takeover the policy liabilities of around two lakh policies along with assets of Sahara India Life Insurance Co Ltd (SILIC) with immediate effect. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in view of deteriorating financial health of the SILIC. "The Authority has identified SBI Life Insurance Company Limited (SBI Life), which is one of the largest life insurers in the country with satisfactory financials, as the acquirer insurer of the life insurance business of SlLIC.
Expanding investigation into allegedly wrongful claims of input tax credit by insurance companies, the tax authorities are probing a section of automobile dealers who have supposedly generated fake invoices without providing any service, which is a punishable offence under goods and services tax (GST) law. The authorities are learnt to have questioned the car dealers to explain the services they provided general insurance companies. The investigators suspect car dealers pitched for insurance schemes that give them commissions in excess of those insurance regulations permit.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
India has a huge untapped population which doesn't have facilities for financial aid and insurance, and it is perhaps plausible to look at the option of having niche players catering to smaller sectors akin to non-banks and microfinance institutions in lending, said Rakesh Joshi, member (Finance & Investment), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit, Joshi said, "Today, most of our insurance companies operate at a national level. There is arguably a case for having differentiated operations, which cater to niche sectors the same way we have non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and microfinance institutions in lending." "The capital requirement for niche players may not be as large as those having national ambitions. "Enabling these niche players, which require lower capital, will enhance the penetration in areas which hitherto had not seen traction from large players," he said.
IRDA eased norms by allowing PSUs and private companies with a capital of Rs 0.1-3 crore to bargain for a special discount of 5% in exchange of agency commission or brokers remuneration, when they cover their risks directly with a general insurer.
'The committee has been constituted. Different government departments and FSDC members are part of it.'
In a major clamp down on insurers promising high returns to lure consumers, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has mandated that companies cannot project more than 10 per cent return on investments in their policies.
Though exposure draft proposed 35-60% hike, Irda raised it only 19%.
Here's a quick look at the likely changes proposed for selling unit linked insurance plans from September 1, 2010 and how they will impact investors.
The sectoral regulator Irda on Wednesday said the initial public float guidelines for the insurance industry will be ready by early October.
Life insurers, at present, are allowed to invest 50 per cent of their funds in government securities, 15 per cent in infrastructure-related projects, and the balance 35 per cent in other-than-approved instruments for traditional policies.
The Supreme Court has ruled that public sector insurance companies cannot refuse to provide medical cover policies to those suffering from pre-existing diseases and said such an action was arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional.
Like dematerialisation of securities, it will offer dual benefits of cost-effectiveness and convenience.
IRDA said it wanted to seek a legal mandate jointly with Sebi, but the market regulator had reservations.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has permitted Sahara Group to enter life-insurance segment, and issued 12 letters of intent to insurance broking entities, including three having foreign equity stake, to conduct business in India.
'The informal sector can grow at a 100 per cent rate -- we have to plan big.'
Insurance policy document will become digital and paperless like shares in the coming year and the policyholders would be saved from preserving the physical copies of their insurance policies.
Sebi had in October last year given the go-ahead to insurance companies for coming out with IPOs.
The insurance sector is making a strong comeback. Buoyed by a steep rise in sale of single premium policies, the industry clocked a 53.25 per cent rise in November.
The increase in FDI limit in the insurance sector may attract Rs 30,000 crore that the industry requires over the next five years, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has said.
The United States Agency for International Development will provide a $10 million technical aid for development of Indian insurance sector over the next four years.\n\n\n\n
