CHENNAI: The office of the Chennai Insurance Ombudsman has remained active during the pandemic, disposing of 569 of the 620 complaints it received till October 31, 2020 (including the outstanding complaints at the beginning of the year), according to a spokeswoman.
A total of 164 awards have been pronounced this year. Due to the prevailing pandemic situation, hearings were being conducted through video conferencing by M Vasantha Krishna, who has been acting as Insurance Ombudsman of the Chennai centre since May 3, 2018.
It is learnt that while 1703 complaints were disposed of during 2019-2020, the number of awards issued during the year was 671 for an amount of Rs 10.04 crore. A total of 1707 complaints, including 186 outstanding complaints of previous year, were taken up in 2019-2020 and a total of 1702 complaints were redressed. Of the complaints received, 43 percent of the total complaints pertain to life insurance, 16 percent pertain to non-life insurance and 41 percent to health insurance.
With respect to life insurance, 52 percent of the awards pronounced were in favour of the complainant and 48 percent in favour of the insurer. In the non-life segment, it was 78 percent and 22 percent respectively. In cases of health insurance, 67 percent of awards were in favour of complainants and 33 percent were in favour of the insurer. In all, the percentage of awards in favour of complainants was 66 percent, while 34 percent of awards were in favour of the insurer, the release stated.
Of the 104 complaints outstanding as on March 31, 2020 as against 186 at the end of the previous year, no complaint was outstanding for more than three months and the disposal ratio was 94 percent.
Any aggrieved policyholder who has taken any life or general insurance policy as an individual or as a member of group insurance can approach this forum. The Ombudsman Rules 2017 also allows a sole proprietor and a micro-enterprise to approach the Ombudsman in case of any grievance against insurers. Under the provisions of the above rules, the insurance ombudsman is empowered to provide compensation for the loss suffered by the insured complainant, due to an insured peril, upto a sum of Rs 30 lakh, a release stated.