Reliance General Insurance’s HealthWise Plan: It’s time to act
July 28, 2010
Reliance HealthWise has jacked up premiums by 500%. It’s time to act and send your complaints to IRDA
We had reported earlier on the astronomical rise in Reliance HealthWise premiums. (See: http://www.moneylife.in/article/8/7498.html). Moneylife has received a number of reader responses on this article.
Subsequently, we contacted a senior official at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). He was not aware of the incredible Reliance HealthWise premium increase (by 500%). The IRDA official has forwarded all the information to the Consumer Affairs Department and has promised to get back to us in a couple of days. According to industry sources, any increase in premium has to be supported by actuary data needed by IRDA for justifying approval. When we checked with the IRDA official about the same, Moneylife was told that the loading has to be specified by the insurance company in the product document that gets approved by IRDA. The official was going to check the Reliance HealthWise product document. We are requesting him to send us a copy of the same.
Policyholders can approach the IRDA grievance cell: http://www.irdaindia.org/grievance/contactinfo.htm. They don’t entertain third-party personnel to register complaints, and hence we are not in a position to forward any complaint. The toll-free number for the IRDA grievance call centre is 155255. Email to both complaints@irda.gov.in and
nonlifecomplaints.pvt@irda.gov.in. The newspaper advertisement has the first email address while the webpage has the second email address. You can send a scanned copy of your Reliance HealthWise policy renewal showing old premium and new offered premium. If there is no claim made till date, please specify the same in your complaint.
IRDA is carrying quarter-page advertisements in DNA and Economic Times urging policyholders to contact them with any problem with respect to insurance companies.
Reliance policyholders will have to register complaints with IRDA before they can expect any regulatory action against Reliance General Insurance. A Right to Information (RTI) query by a policyholder may help to know if Reliance General Insurance indeed has IRDA approval for 500% jump in premiums.
Please register your complaint in writing with Reliance General Insurance too. Moneylife will certainly keep you updated and request you to keep us updated if you hear anything from Reliance General Insurance or IRDA. — Raj Pradhan
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