The eIA advantage: How policyholders can benefit from electronic insurance accounts

IRDAI has mandated policy issuance in electronic form from April 1

The insurance industry has made significant strides towards customer-centricity and digital-first approach.

With quite a few initiatives to ease accessibility and transparency for the customer, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is paving the way for a more seamless insurance ecosystem.

The recent introduction of the e-issuance mandate from April 1, 2024 is yet another step in this direction. Under the IRDAI’s Protection of Policyholders’ Interests regulations, insurance policies in all categories-life, health, and general insurance will now be issued electronically.

The regulations have been introduced so that insurers, and distribution channel fulfill their obligations towards policyholders and enable standard procedures including best practices for sale and service of policyholders.

How e-insurance accounts will work

Simply put, ‘eIA’ means an electronic insurance account for maintaining insurance policies issued in electronic form. All insurance policies will be accessible through e-insurance accounts. As per the regulations, insurers need to issue policies in electronic form irrespective of whether the proposal was received in electronic form or not.

Moreover, electronic insurance policies shall be valid only when issued with digital signature. E-insurance accounts can be opened at the time of buying an insurance policy. You will need to submit KYC documents such as Aadhaar and PAN to the repository.

Electronic insurance policy implies a digitally signed policy document evidencing the insurance contract issued to the policyholder by an insurer in an electronic form. Four insurance repositories namely CAMS Repository, Karvy, NSDL Database Management (NDML) and Central Insurance Repository of India facilitate the electronic conversion of insurance policies. IRDAI has also directed to cover measures to safeguard privacy of data, adequacy of systems to prevent manipulation of records and transactions, etc in the policy.

Also read: New insurance policies will be issued only in electronic format from April 1

Multiple benefits for policyholders

The directive has a host of benefits from convenience to enhanced security of policy documents. It will help in avoiding time-consuming paperwork and reduced risk of loss of documents. Usually, nominees search for physical policy copies at the time of need, only to find that they have been misplaced. With these regulations, there is a reduced risk of misplacing physical documents.

Moreover, there is a little chance of missing renewal of policies if they are stored at one place. Family members can get access to benefits in the absence of policyholder since e-insurance account is an online repository of policies across insurers. They can easily access the number of policies purchased by the policyholder in the repository.

Also read: IRDAI’s status quo on surrender charges a relief for insurers, but setback for policyholders

Simpler to update contact details

Also, e-insurance accounts help simplify the process of updating information such as address, contact number, etc. Policyholders won’t have the hassle of updating each insurer individually about the change of information. It will also help smoothen the process of settling claims, since policyholders can file claims digitally.

They can also pay renewal premiums or raise service requests through e-insurance accounts. This step is pivotal in the era of digitalisation wherein it will streamline processes for both insurers and consumers making a win-win situation for both. It will enhance the overall experience of customers and help reinforce accountability in insurance industry.