What if the term Insurance claim is rejected?

You buy insurance due to emotional factors. You want to protect your loved ones. If the claim is rejected by the Insurance Company the beneficiaries will feel cheated and they would be emotionally worse off even after having the cushion of insurance. You should also keep in mind that insurance companies are in business and businesses are not run by emotions. Insurance companies will honour your claim if they are 100% sure that claim is genuine and complete documents are received by them in time.

Why are claims rejected?

It is very difficult to generalize why claims are rejected. It would depend from case to case. However, from what we know from our experience is that the life insurance claims are normally rejected because of following reasons:

a) Policy not in force at the time of mishappening.
b) Incomplete claim documents or lack of basic documents.
c) Misrepresentation or concealment of material fact when the proposal form.
d) Suspected fraud to take claim amount.

What can you do to ensure the future claims are not rejected?

No company can deny the claim payment if your claim is genuine and documentation is complete. Agents have the tendancy or the habit of filling the proposal form on your behalf. Remember, agent will only earn commission if the policy is issued. In case policy is rejected then he will not earn any commission. Question before us is what you should do to protect your interest :

a) Complete the proposal form yourself and answer all questions fully.
b) Never forge or let your agent forge document any document such as Age proof, Salary Slips /Form 16 / Tax returns just to get higher coverage amount.
c) Never conceal medical facts at the time of medical examination for e.g. taking medication to suppress elevated BP before appearing for medical examination.
d) Most importantly read the policy document fully on receiving it.
e) Recheck the copy of proposal form that is received along with policy document and ensure that it has not been changed by the agent(which is incidentally a common practice)
f) Keep your family informed about your policy.
g) Pay the premiums on time and do not let the policy lapse.

What if the claim is still rejected?

RDA is also concerned about the claim ratio as low claim payment affects the goodwill of regulator. It has been asking the insurance companies not to reject claims mechanically on technical grounds.
You should follow the following process. The process is uniform across companies.

S. No. Company Name Contact Number E mail ID
1 AEGON Religare Life Insurance Company Ltd. 1800-209-9090 customer.care@aegonreligare.com
2 Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Pvt. Ltd. 1800-180-2266 customerservices@avivaindia.com
3 Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited 1800-233-7272 life@bajajallianz.co.in
4 Bharti AXA Life Insurance Pvt. Ltd. 1800-425-1350 complaints.unit@bharti-axalife.com
5 Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 1800-270-7000 customerservice@birlasunlife.com
6 Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co. Ltd 1800-100-003 customerservice@canarahsbclife.in
7 DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company Ltd. 1800-102-7070 contactus@dlfpramericalife.com
8 Future Generali India Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 1800-220-233 care@futuregenerali.in
9 HDFC Life 1800-227-227 service@hdfcinsurance.com
10 ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 1800-22-2020 gro@iciciprulife.com
11 IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co. Limited 1800-221-120 support@idbifederal.com
12 ING Vysya Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 1800-419-8228 complaintscell@inglife.co.in
13 Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited 1800-209-8800 clientservicedesk@kotak.com
14 Life Insurance Corporation of India 1251 Contact branch office
15 Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 1800-180-5577 service.helpdesk@maxnewyorklife.com
16 Met Life India Insurance Company Pvt. Ltd. 1800-425-6969 Indiaservice@metlife.co.in
17 Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited. 1800-300-08181 rlife.customerservice@relianceada.com
18 Sahara India Life Insurance Co, Ltd. 1800-180-9000 life@life.sahara.co.in
19 SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 022-66456241 info@sbilife.co.in
20 Shriram Life Insurance Co. Ltd. 1800-425-6116  
21 Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Limited 022-39546300 grievanceredressal@sudlife.in
22 Tata AIG Life Insurance Company Limited 1800-119-966 customercare@tata-aig.com
23 Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Co. Ltd 1800-300-2334 care@edelweisstokio.in
24 IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited 1800-209-8700 customer.first@indiafirstlife.com