The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India vide its notification 12th November 2020 has allowed Life Insurers to obtain the customer’s consent through electronic means i.e., without requiring wet signature on the proposal form, for the business solicited by individual Insurance Agents and Insurance Intermediaries under all products, till 31st March, 2021.
IRDAI in its earlier notification has mandated the life insurers to place on their website a standardized presentation of each product on offer for sale and shall ensure that only such approved material is used while soliciting the business. A copy of such standardized presentation shall also be mailed by the Life Insurer to the policyholder along with the policy document. The free look cancellation period of 30 days will be applicable for sales effected under these provisions.
However in addition to the above the following shall apply in respect of sales made by the individual Insurance Agents under these provisions:
- It shall be the responsibility of the Insurer concerned to authorize specific individual agents for this dispensation. Life Insurers may follow appropriate due diligence in considering such authorization.
- The Insurance Agents shall not solicit non-single premium unit-linked insurance policies for annualized premium exceeding Rs.50,000 or single premium unit-linked insurance policies exceeding Rs. 1,00,000.
- The Insurer shall verify at least 3% of sales to ascertain compliance with these provisions. The records of verification calls shall be preserved for a period of not less than 3 years.
Further, they shall provide appropriate training to all persons involved in the sales/solicitation process to ensure that the consent of the customer is obtained only after clear information has been provided to the proposer on the product being sold and it shall also monitor the grievances received pertaining to the sales and promptly undertake corrective actions.
