Freedom from unfair insurance claim rejections: Finance Ministry explains how to file complaints

Ahead of the 80th Independence Day, the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, on Friday, August 14, 2026, shared steps that insurance policyholders can take to raise complaints against unfair claim rejections, delays, mis-selling or other service-related issues and get faster resolutions.

"As insurance adoption accelerates across India, navigating the customer Grievance Redressal Mechanism has become a vital skill for policyholders. To ensure financial security, a clear understanding of the established regulatory grievance channels and recent customer statistics is critical for every policyholder," the DFS said in a release.

The DFS further said that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) mandates a strict, time-bound process for resolving policyholder issues.

How to raise complaints

The Finance Ministry said that customers facing unfair claim rejections, delays, mis-selling or other service-related issues are advised to follow the defined escalation path mentioned below:

Policyholders can raise their complaints with the Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) of the insurer.

The GRO is the nodal officer for dealing with grievances. Every office of the insurer is mandated to designate one of its officials as Grievance Redressal Officer.

Further, Policyholder Protection, Grievance Redressal and Claims Monitoring Committee (PPGR & CM Committee), constituted by every insurer is the Board-level Committee for ensuring efficient and effective redressal of grievances, the release said.

According to DFS, every grievance received either through a digital interface, direct correspondence or the call centre of the insurer is registered in the Complaints Management System (CMS) of the insurer.

The CMS of insurers and the Bima Bharosa Portal are integrated.

It is mandatory for insurers to acknowledge the complaint immediately and provide a resolution within 14 days.

DFS said that complainants can register and monitor the redressal of grievances by logging into the Bima Bharosa Portal, which is an integrated portal for monitoring policyholder grievances across the insurance industry by the IRDAI.

"Policyholders who have complaints against insurers are required to first approach the Complaints/Grievance Redressal Cell of the insurer concerned," DFS said.

If you do not receive a response from the insurer within 14 days, or are dissatisfied with the response, then you can approach the Grievance Redressal Cell in the Policyholders’ Protection & Grievance Redressal Department of the IRDAI.

"Complaints sent through physical letters or emails are also registered in Bima Bharosa Portal. The call centre run by the authority offers multi-lingual support and operates in 12 languages," it added.