The finance ministry recently issued a draft Insurance Ombudsman (Amendment) Rules, 2020, to amend the 2017 Insurance Ombudsman Rules. Under the new rules, the Council for Insurance Ombudsman will take over the duties of the Executive Council of Insurers.
According to the circular, “…an online platform has to be developed by the Council for Insurance Ombudsman for online submission and tracking of the status of complaints lodged with any office of Ombudsman.”
Chandan D. S. Dang, executive director, SecureNow.in, said the draft rules specify insured-friendly changes such as providing an online management system for submission and tracking of complaints to the Ombudsman.
Dang added that, “As per the new notification, the Ombudsman may, on his own or the request of the complainant, hear a matter through video conference if he is satisfied that circumstances so require, after notifying the complainant and the insurer concerned, subject to guidelines issued by the Council for Insurance Ombudsman in this regard and published on its website.”
An insurance ombudsman is created for individual policyholders to have their complaints settled out of the court’s system in a cost-effective, efficient and impartial way.
Currently, as per policyholder.gov.in website, there are 17 insurance ombudsman in different locations and any person who has a grievance against an insurer, may himself or through his legal heirs or nominee, can make a complaint in writing to an insurance ombudsman within whose jurisdiction the branch or office of the insurer complained against or the residential address or place of residence of the complainant is located.
