Topic
Life insurance pays a sum on the policyholder's death or at maturity. Indian life insurers are regulated by IRDAI.
46 storiesLatest 24 Oct 2026, 07:05 IST
Courts/
The Uttarakhand State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held that LIC wrongly rejected a widow's claims over undisclosed past hepatitis and ordered it to pay Rs 2 lakh with interest.
Courts
The NCDRC held that a policyholder did not disclose earlier heart treatment in the proposal form, and set aside orders directing Tata AIG Life to pay Rs 4.4 lakh.
Courts
The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held LIC wrongly denied the double accident benefit on four policies of a murdered policyholder, and ordered it paid with 6% interest.
NRI
How NRIs hold foreign-currency life and general insurance under FEMA 1999 and RBI Master Direction 9/2015-16: premium sources, the proportionality payout rule, Indian tax, DTAA credit and repatriation.
Insurance
IRDAI's 25 March 2026 circular orders every insurer to keep branches open on 31 March so policyholders can pay year-end premiums. Here is what the rule protects and the numbers behind it.
Insurance
IRDAI's Saral Jeevan Bima standardises pure term cover from Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 25,00,000 across every life insurer. We explain the 14 October 2020 circular, the death-benefit formula, the 45-day waiting period and the exit-value traps.
Insurance
IRDAI/ACTL/MSTCIR/MISC/89/6/2024 forces ULIP illustrations to show at least 90% of premiums back at 4% gross and grants a three-year revival window. Here is the arithmetic and the traps.
Insurance
IRDAI's Insurance Products Regulations 2024, notified 20 March 2024, rewired life-policy surrender value: a guaranteed floor from 30% in year two and an enhanced special surrender value payable after one year's premium.
Insurance
IRDAI's 12 June 2024 Master Circular on Life Insurance Products makes policy loans mandatory, requires a surrender value after year one, and extends the free-look period to 30 days.
Insurance
In Sulbha Motegaonkar v LIC (5 October 2015), the Supreme Court held that a concealed illness with no link to the cause of death cannot justify claim repudiation. Here is what it means for you.
Insurance
The Supreme Court's 24 April 2019 ruling in Reliance Life v Rekhaben Rathod upheld the repudiation of a Rs 10 lakh claim over one undisclosed policy. What Section 45 requires now, and the numbers.
Insurance
Section 39 of the Insurance Act 1938 decides who your insurer pays - but the 2015 beneficial-nominee rule decides who keeps a Rs 1 crore payout. A worked guide to nomination, wills and Sarbati Devi.
Insurance
Section 45 of the Insurance Act, 1938 makes a life policy incontestable after three years. Here is how the clock starts, the fraud-versus-misstatement line, and what it is worth to a nominee.
Insurance
IRDAI's Protection of Policyholders' Interests Regulations 2024, notified 20 March 2024, give life buyers a 30-day free-look window. Here is exactly what an insurer may deduct, and the rupee arithmetic.
Insurance
IRDAI's 12 June 2024 Master Circular merged four circulars into one: a mandatory Customer Information Sheet, compulsory policy loans on savings products, health riders without surrender and pension partial withdrawals - explained with worked numbers.
Insurance
The IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations 2024 merge six product rulebooks into one framework, strengthening surrender value and disclosure rules. Here is what changes for your policy, with worked numbers.
Insurance
The IRDAI Life Insurance Products Master Circular of 12 June 2024 fixes a 30-day free-look window and floors guaranteed and special surrender values. Here is how the numbers actually work.
Insurance
How the IRDAI Life Products Master Circular 2024 fixes ULIP surrender values, the third-anniversary rule and the 90%-at-4% maturity floor, explained with worked numbers and the insurer's disclosure duties.
Insurance
Section 47 of the Insurance Act 1938 lets a life insurer deposit disputed policy money into court. Here is the six-month rule, the petition checklist, and how to keep your own Rs 1 crore claim out of it.
Insurance
Section 38 of the Insurance Act 1938 lets you assign a life policy by witnessed endorsement, but it binds the insurer only on notice - and the company can refuse a non-bona-fide transfer within 30 days.
Insurance
Section 39 of the Insurance Act 1938 decides who receives your life-cover claim. Here is how nomination works, what the 2015 beneficial-nominee change did, and the traps that decide ownership of the payout.
Insurance
Section 45 of the Insurance Act 1938, as amended in 2015, makes a life policy incontestable after three years. Here is how the clock is counted and what a nominee can enforce.
Insurance
IRDAI's 2024 master circulars give every life and health policyholder 30 days to review and cancel a new policy. Here is how the free-look refund is calculated and the wording traps to avoid.
Insurance
Section 45 of the Insurance Act 1938 makes a life policy incontestable after three years. We work through the statutory text, the three-year clock, revival resets and the wording traps that survive it.
Enforcement
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed Tata AIA Life's revision petition on 7 November 2024, ordering a full premium refund for a policy sold as a one-time deposit.
Enforcement
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission dismissed 25 second appeals by Reliance Nippon Life on 7 November 2025, holding policies sold as fixed deposits unenforceable.
Enforcement
IRDAI, by orders of October 2022, imposed Rs 2 crore on Axis Bank and Rs 3 crore on Max Life over share transactions the Authority found breached its directions on transfers and commission limits.
Enforcement
IRDAI, in an order dated 1 August 2024, imposed two penalties of Rs 1 crore each on HDFC Life Insurance for lapses it found in policyholder protection and outsourcing norms during a 2020 inspection.
Insurance
IRDAI's 12 June 2024 Master Circular redefines guaranteed and special surrender value and makes a policy loan facility mandatory on non-linked life savings plans. Here is how the numbers work.
Insurance
The IRDAI Master Circular on Life Insurance Products (June 2024) makes a policy loan facility mandatory in every savings life plan, adds a plain-language Customer Information Sheet, and extends the free-look period to 30 days.
Insurance
IRDAI's 2024 Life Products Master Circular forces insurers to publish the surrender-value formula and pay a Special Surrender Value floored to the present value of your paid-up benefits.
Insurance
Section 45 of the Insurance Act 1938 bars insurers from questioning a life policy on any ground after three years. Here is the three-year clock, the 90-day refund rule and the revival trap explained.
Tax
Section 80C gives old-regime taxpayers a Rs 1,50,000 deduction for FY 2025-26. Here is how to build it with PPF, ELSS, EPF, insurance and tuition fees -- plus the mistakes CPC flags.
Insurance
IRDAI's 12 June 2024 Master Circular on Life Insurance Products reset how Special Surrender Value is computed and made the Customer Information Sheet a mandatory part of every policy. Here is the maths, the tax angle and the traps.
Insurance
IRDAI's June 2024 Life Insurance Products Master Circular forces insurers to publish surrender value formulas, issue a Customer Information Sheet and grant a 3-year revival window. Here is what it means and the surrender maths.
Insurance
IRDAI's 12 June 2024 Life Products Master Circular mandates policy loans against surrender value and a five-year revival window. Here is how both work, with worked numbers and pitfalls.
Insurance
IRDAI's 2024 Master Circular forces life insurers to pay the higher of GSV or a present-value-backed SSV from your first policy year. Here is the formula, a worked exit, and the traps.
Insurance
IRDAI publishes two claim ratios per life insurer: settlement ratio by count and paid ratio by amount. They diverge when big claims are rejected. Here is how to read both.
Insurance
IRDAI publishes two very different ratios: CSR for life insurers and ICR for health and general. Here is how to read each one, plus solvency, before you buy.
Insurance
Section 45 of the Insurance Act, 1938 (as substituted in 2015) gives life policies a 3-year statutory shield. Here is the rule, the burden, and the traps that still cost claims.
Insurance
IRDAI's June 2024 Master Circular pays a guaranteed surrender value from year 1, alongside a higher Special Surrender Value pegged to asset share. The Section 80C(5) claw-back still bites.
Insurance
Section 10(10D) exempts life insurance maturity proceeds only when premium-to-sum-assured ratios and the Rs 2.5 lakh ULIP and Rs 5 lakh non-ULIP annual-premium caps hold. Here is the working math.
Insurance
Finance Act 2025 retains both Section 10(10D) premium caps: Rs 2.5 lakh on ULIPs (Section 112A LTCG) and Rs 5 lakh on traditional plans (Section 56(2)(xiii) slab tax).
Insurance
IRDAI publishes claim settlement ratios in its Annual Report under Section 20 of the IRDA Act, 1999. Here is how to read LIC's 96.61% and the 98-99% private cluster correctly.
Insurance
Section 45 of the Insurance Act, 1938 bars claim repudiation after 3 years on any ground including fraud. Within the window, insurers must prove material non-disclosure.
Insurance
IRDAI's annual claims data reveals stark differences in term insurance claim settlement ratios across life insurers. We analyse the numbers behind the marketing.
