The IRDA is working on a cost-effective insurance product that combines coverage for health, life, property, and accident risks. This initiative aims to provide citizens with comprehensive protection and streamline claim settlements by integrating death registries onto a unified industry platform.
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If India’s future plans become a reality, then people across the country will be able to get accessible and affordable single policy that covers health, life, property and accident. They could also get their claims settled within hours and even get value added services and memberships when they buy the policy.Â
The IRDA is taking significant measures to address the low insurance coverage in the country. They are currently developing an innovative and economical bundled product that will provide citizens with coverage for various risks. Additionally, they aim to enhance the speed of claim settlements by integrating death registries onto a unified platform for the entire insurance industry. This strategic initiative by IRDA aims to increase insurance penetration and make it more accessible to the general population. Through these efforts, the IRDA seeks to improve the overall insurance landscape and provide citizens with better protection against multiple risks.
According to Panda, IRDA is shifting to a principle-based approach from rules. He mentioned that the insurance sector has huge investment potential due to the large market size, and India’s insurance penetration is currently low.
Insurance Made Easier
The head of IRDA, Debasish Panda, has highlighted significant gaps in insurance coverage across various sectors. He aims to bring about a transformative change similar to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the insurance industry. To achieve this, the IRDA is introducing a plan called “Bima Trinity.”
Under the Bima Trinity plan, a new platform called Bima Sugam will be created. This platform will bring together insurance companies and distributors, offering customers a convenient one-stop shop for their needs. Customers will be able to manage their policies and file claims through this platform, making it much easier
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Additionally, the IRDA is developing a comprehensive product called Bima Vistar. It will cover risks related to life, health, property, and accidents. Bima Vistar will provide predefined benefits for each risk, and claims can be settled quickly without the need for time-consuming assessments. The aim is to provide affordable coverage and enable premium payments through automatic debits from bank accounts.
As part of the Bima Trinity, the IRDA plans to establish a women-centric workforce known as Bima Vaahaks in local communities. These carriers will visit households and educate women about the benefits of composite insurance products like Bima Vistar, emphasizing their usefulness during times of distress.
To expedite claim settlements, the IRDA aims to integrate its platform with digitized birth and death registries in various states. This integration could potentially enable claims to be settled within a matter of hours or at most within a day.
State Level Insurance Committees
According to a representative, a new system will make the claiming process much easier. All a policyholder needs to do is go to a platform and give their consent to access their policy information from the insurance company’s database. They will also need to provide a death certificate, if applicable.
The system will then process the claim on the backend and transfer the money to the policyholder’s bank account within 6-8 hours, or at most, by the next day. This is seen as a significant change that will benefit policyholders. The IRDA is also working towards ensuring insurance coverage for everyone in India by 2047. They plan to establish State-level committees, similar to those in the banking sector, and collaborate with State governments to create district-level plans.
