Shriram Life Insurance introduces 12-hour claim settlement

Private life insurer Shriram Life Insurance has introduced a 12-hour claim settlement process for non-early claims. Non-early claims are those which are filed after three years of a policy being issued.

Typically, insurers take between two to seven days to settle life insurance claims. The time taken is higher for suspicious claims that require investigation. As per regulatory rules, life insurers are required to settle claims within 30 days of receipt of all the documents. In case of delays, the insurers are also required to pay penalties of 2 percent above bank rate from the date of receipt of the final documents.

The insurer said in a statement that it has been improving its claims settlement ratio from 64 percent in FY16 to 91.6 percent in FY20. It added that this figure will exceed 95 percent in FY21.

"Our team is focused on ensuring that timely help is extended on claim intimation and wherever possible, the claims are settled within a time period of 12 hours. At present over 54 percent of all non-early claims received are settled within 12 or 48 hours," said Casparus Kromhout, MD & CEO, Shriram Life Insurance.

Shriram Life is a major player in the rural markets in India and has among the lowest average ticket size (premium per policy) for individual regular policies among all private players at Rs 17,000.

"The company has also made advancements in the adoption and use of technology to be able to reach and serve its customers more effectively irrespective of geographical constraints. During the Covid–19 lockdown period the company was able to provide 24X7 digital assistance to all its customers," added Kromhout.

Under Section 45 of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act 2015, no life insurance claim can be rejected after three years of the policy being in force.