INSURANCE REPOSITORY

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Meaning

‘Insurance Repository’ means a company formed and incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and which has been granted a certificate of Registration by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (‘IRDA’ for short) for maintaining data of insurance policies in electronic form on behalf of the insurers. The insurance repositories provide the ease of holding insurance policies issued in an electronic form.

Objective

The objective of Insurance Repository is to provide policyholders a facility to keep insurance policies in electronic form and to undertake changes, modifications and revisions in the insurance policy with speed and accuracy. The repository acts as a single stop for several policy service requirements. It also brings about efficiency and transparency in the issuance and maintenance of insurance policies.

Who can act as insurance repository?

Only an entity registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and obtained registration from IRDA can act as an insurance repository.   Therefore no individual can act as an insurance repository.  IRDA has granted the certificate of registration to the following entities to act as ‘insurance repositories’:

• NSDL Database Repository Limited;
• Central Insurance Repository Limited;
• SHCIL Projects Limited;
• Karvy Insurance Repository Limited;
• CAMS Repository Limited.

Insurance Repositories cannot sell or solicit insurance policies.   They are authorized only to maintain the policies in electronic form and provide a service of record of all insurance policies. An Approved Person (‘AP’) is a Point of Sale appointed by Insurance Repository and will be working on behalf of insurance company to extend the Insurance Repository services.

e-Insurance Account (eIA)

‘e-insurance account’ stands for electronic insurance account. This account will safeguard the insurance policy documents of policyholders in electronic format.   It will facilitate the policyholder by providing access to the insurance portfolio at a click of a button through internet. The Insurance Repositories are authorized to open e-insurance accounts.

Opening of e-insurance account

e-insurance account can be opened by an individual in the prescribed application form which can be obtained from the insurance company, insurance repository or Authorized Person. The application is required to be filled and submit the same to the insurance company or insurance repository or authorized person along with photo ID, recent passport size photograph, cancelled cheque (in case of ECS/NEFT services for payment of insurance premium) and address proof which may be any one of the following:

• Ration card;
• Passport;
• Aadhar card;
• Voter ID card;
• Driving licence;
• PAN Card;
• Bank passbook (not more than 6 months old);
• Verified copies of-
  • Electricity bills (not more than 6 months old);
  • Residence telephone bills (not more than 6 months old);
  • Registered lease an licence agreement/agreement for sale-
    • Self declaration by High Court and Supreme Court Judges giving the new address in respect of their own accounts;
    • Identity card/documents with address, issued by-
      • Central/State Government and its Departments;
      • Statutory/Regulatory Authorities;
      • Public Sector Undertakings;
      • Scheduled Commercial Banks;
      • Public Financial Institutions;
      • Colleges affiliated to Universities; and
      • Professional bodies such as ICAI, ICWAI, Bar Councils to their members.
        

An e-insurance account will be opened within 7 days from the date of submission of application complete in all aspects. Once the account is created the applicant will receive a welcome kit. A pin mailer shall be sent separately.   Using the login credentials and PIN, one can access and start using his e-insurance account.   This service is rendered at free of cost. An individual cannot open multiple e-insurance accounts.

Once an e-insurance account is opened if the applicant wishes to buy a new policy in electronic form he is to quote his unique e-insurance account number in his new insurance proposal form and make a request to issue policy in an electronic form. All Life Insurance, health insurance, general insurance and annuity polices that are issued by registered insurance companies with IRDA and who have signed up with insurance repositories are eligible to be held in the electronic form. If the insurance policy is successfully credit into the e-insurance account the applicant will receive a mail and SMS on his registered e-mail id and mobile number.   It is also possible to convert the existing paper policies into electronic form. For this a service request is to be made to the insurance repository or insurer or the AP.

Details

A list of all policies that are credited will be available in the e-insurance account. For each policy, policy level details like the status, commencement, maturity/expiry, nomination, assignment, endorsement, address, terms and conditions would be available.

Benefits

The following are the benefits of holding insurance policies in electronic form:

• Safety – There is no risk of loss or damage of a policy as its common with paper polices; the electronic form ensures that the policies are in safe custody and can be easily accessed whenever and wherever needed.   A copy of the policy can be downloaded at any time by accessing the e-insurance account;
• Convenience – All insurance policies, be it life, pension, health or general, can be electronically held under a single e-insurance account.   This means all details of all policies are available in a single account.   The details of the policies can be accessed at any time by logging on to the online portal of insurance repository;
• Single point of service – Service requests in respect of e-insurance account or any of the electronic policy can be submitted at any of insurance repository’s service points.   A single request can sometimes cater to the requirements of several insurers. As an illustration, a single change of address request made to the insurance repository can update the policies issued by multiple insurers.   There would be no need to go to several offices of individual insurers for service;
• Less paper work and savings in time – An e-insurance account holder is freed from the trouble of submitting KYC details each time a new policy is taken. Further any changes in personal details like address or contact number can be effected through a single request, thus, saving on paper and time;
• Statement of Account – At least once every year, the Insurance Repository would send a statement of account to the e-insurance account holder with the details of the policies of the account holder;
• Increased number of service points – Since, the Insurance Repositories function in addition to the insurers, the policy holders will have increased number of touch points for having their servicing needs attended;
• Easy payout transfers – Policy benefits would be paid through electronic facility to the registered bank account, thus ensuring speedier and convenient settlement;
• Single view – Single view of all policies will be made available to an authorized person in case of death of the e-insurance account holder.
  

Authorized representative

An Authorized representative is a person who is appointed by e-insurance account holder to operate his/her e-insurance account in case of unfortunate demise or incapability of e-insurance account holder to operate the account. The authorized representative will intimate the insurance repository about the demise/incapability of policyholder with valid proof. He has only access to the e-insurance account in the event of demise of the policy holder. He would act only as a facilitator and is not entitled to receive any policy benefits unless designated as a ‘nominee’ or ‘assignee’ by the deceased policy holder. An authorized representative may also be a nominee.   An authorized representative can be changed by making a request to the insurance repository. After settlement of all claims the authorized representative is required to make a request to the insurance repository to close the e-insurance account.

Redressal Mechanism

Every Insurance Repository will have a policy holders’ grievances cell to address the grievances in respect of repository services and electronic policies held by them.

Transfer from one repository to other

The e-insurance account holder will have an option to shift from one insurance repository to the other.   All the policy details and the transaction history would then be transferred to the new insurance repository.

Opting out

It is possible to opt out of the Insurance Repository. For this the policyholder shall make a request to his insurer and upon completion of all formalities in respect of the same the hard copy of the policy document shall be made available to the policy holder.