The Hindu Business Line : ‘Insurance cos not taking Ombudsman seriously’

Hyderabad, March 11 Insurance companies it seems are yet to take the institution of Ombudsman seriously in dispute resolution with the customers as well as execution of awards.

This was the opinion expressed by a majority of the 12 insurance Ombudsmen in the country in the operational reports for the last five years, submitted to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

The lack of seriousness on the part of insurers is quite apparent.

“There are all shades of negligence. Delay in response, speedy response without substance, delayed as well as non-substantial response and so on,” points out a report from the Ombudsman Centre, Ahmedabad.

It is also generally found that most of the documents lie in the hands of the insurance companies at the complaint stage, making disposal of complaints extremely difficult, observed the Ombudsman, Bhopal. “In few cases, the replies were not received at all,” the report adds.

The Ombudsmen also pointed out that officials representing the case for insurance companies need to be well-versed with the contents of the file.

In many cases, the officer representing on behalf of the insurers are not pleading the case properly.

“All this would mean a serious loss for a policy-holder at a time when mis-selling of policies, especially in the unit-linked products is very alarming,” an insurance Ombudsman who did not want to be identified told Business Line.

Not only private insurers, but even the State insurers are not spared in this regard. “In spite of clear instructions issued by Life Insurance Corporation of India for representing the cases properly, the office concerned with a specific complaint is not presenting the case properly,” said a review report from the Insurance Ombudsman, Bhopal.

“There needs to be a stricter mechanism to ensure implementation of awards given by the Ombudsman in a specific timeframe.

However, as the awareness about Ombudsmen is growing, things would improve,” Mr R. Rangabhashyam, Insurance Ombudsman, Kolkata, said.

When contacted, Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, IRDA, said: “In all probability, it will be brought under IRDA’s jurisdiction. Then, something more can be done,” he said.

“The insurers should be more responsible in working for customers’ benefit while dealing with complaints launched with Ombudsman,” he added.

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