KOCHI: The delay in the appointment of the Insurance Ombudsman in the state has led the policyholders and senior citizens awaiting settlements in trouble. It is learnt that till this date no official announcement has been made by the Executive Council of Insurers (ECOI) regarding the date of new Ombudsman joining. The ECOI, which is the governing body of Insurance Council, has declared K Sanath Kumar, former Chariman and Managing Director, National Insurance as the Insurance Ombudsman Judge but he is waiting for the vigilance clearance which is going to take a while.
Around 600 cases are pending to be addressed in the Ombudsman from June last year in the state. "It has been a year since we have registered a complaint in the Ombudsman and they have not addressed the matter. It is our mediclaim policy which they have to settle. We need to settle our debt after getting the claimed amount," said K M Mathews, an insurance policyholder.
Meanwhile, complaints have also come up raising brows against the Insurance Ombudsman clerks who are trying to settle that cases without lodging a complaint. "As per the policy norms, we are entitled to receive the full amount claimed for a year, the financial year is not mentioned in the policy norms but the clerks try to twist them making assumptions," said Roy Varghese, an insurance mediclaim policyholder.
The officials at the Ombudsman have no details regarding the joining date of the new Ombudsman."K Sanath Kumar was given the offer on February by ECOI and till now there have been no announcements. In order to proceed further he requires vigilance clearance He is waiting for the vigilance clearance," said Senior Official, Insurance Ombudsman.
Who has the authority
It is the Executive Council of Insurers, consisting of the Chairman of IRDAI and the Finance Ministry, who appoints the Judge of the Insurance Ombudsman. He must be either fall into the category of any retired managing director of Insurance company or any retired high court judge or retired IRS, IAS, IFS officer for being the judge of the Insurance Ombudsman.
"The former Insurance Ombudsman of the state P K Vijaykumar was retired on September 2016 and from then on grievances were addressed by the judge sent from Delhi. The last hearing was held on June last year, afterward, no hearing took place till this date and the cases are increasing day by day," said a senior official, Insurance Ombudsman.
"The government is taking a lackadaisical approach as far as the policyholders are concerned, the cases are piling up each day and their grievances are not addressed. It is their deserving money that has been held up waiting for a settlement," said General Secretary, General Insurance Agents Organisation, Chandran Tottumpuram.