IRDA or Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority creates an annual list of those insurance companies which have indulged in unfair business practices; and for this year, HDFC Life Insurance, Birla Sun Life and Reliance Life have topped the charts.
As per data compiled under “Unfair Business Practices” by IRDA, which was submitted to the Finance Ministry, it has been revealed that total of 2.11 lakh complaints lodged against various insurance providers in India in 2013-14.
For the period 2011-12, there were around 1 lakh complaints, which rose to 1.68 in 2012-13. In this year (2014-15), there have already been 48,721 complaints from insurance customers regarding unfair business practices.
Ranking of Insurance Providers By Complaints Filed
Out of 2.11 lakh complaints for the financial year 2013-14, the maximum: 10,819 complaints were filed against HDFC Standard Life (between the period April 1 – July 20, 2014).
Birla Sun Life received 6185 complaints, followed by Reliance Life which received 6168 complaints for the same period.
Here are some of the other major insurance providers who have received the complaints related to unfair business practices.
Life Insurance of India (LIC), which has still 80% market share, had least complaints as only 763 cases were registered against them.
Which Is The Most Common Complaint?
As observed in the filing of records by IRDA, the most common form of unfair business practice done by these insurance providers is: false promises.
Customers are duped into accepting insurance policies by making false and lucrative offers, which doesn’t get materialized at the time of termination of that policy.
Protect Yourself – IRDA’s Grievance Cell
IRDA maintains an active grievance cell for policy users of both life and non-life insurance policies. Even after you have complained to your insurance provider regarding any unfair business practice observed in your policy, you can contact IRDA and address your issue which gets stored in a integrated grievance management system maintained by IRDA. You can get more information and contact details for IRDA’s grievance cell right here.
