Streamlining Insurance: The Role of E-Insurance Accounts

Evaluate and know more about E-Insurance Account

An e-insurance account, also known as an Electronic Insurance Account (eIA), is the smartest and the simplest way to manage all your insurance policies like Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Vehicle Insurance, Accident Insurance and so on. This account holds all your insurance policies together in a digital form which makes it a hassle-free and secure process to store these important documents.

You need to connect with an Insurance Repository (IR) to open an Electronic Insurance Account. An IR is authorised by the Insurance Regulator to maintain data on insurance policies in an electronic form on behalf of insurers and policyholders. The policies are securely stored in electronic format and can be accessed by policyholders whenever they need to.

Customers can avail of this facility by opening an eIA account at no cost while purchasing the policy for which provision is made in the proposal form. In case the customer already has an eIA Account, the person can include a new policy therein by disclosing the account particulars in the proposal form.

What are the benefits of having an e-insurance account?

Here are the six benefits of having an e-Insurance Account:

Safety and Security

An Electronic Insurance Account offers you safe, secure and authenticated storage of all your insurance policies. Insurance repositories are mandated to follow safe and secure protocols for transmission and encryption of policy-related information and also compensate the policyholders for any loss or damage caused due to their negligence.

One can access the documents anywhere, anytime, with just one click. This service is invaluable, especially in an emergency, such as a road accident involving your vehicle or a health-related emergency, wherein speedy access to the policy information becomes critical. Physical documents are, on the other hand, cumbersome to carry around and are prone to loss, destruction and damage.

Policy Servicing

An Electronic Insurance Account can be used not only for storing the policy documents but also for policy servicing. Simple services such as notifying change of address can be availed through the Insurance Repositories, and it will not be necessary to contact the insurers individually for such purpose.

Go paperless

Having an Electronic Insurance Account saves you from unnecessary paperwork. By opting for electronic storage, you save paper and are environmentally friendly.

One-time KYC submission

 
Know Your Customer (KYC) standards are designed to prevent fraud, corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. It is a process of verification to establish the identity and bonafide of the policyholders. As your Electronic Insurance Account is opened with complete verification, submitting your KYC documents isn’t necessary every time you buy a new policy. It is enough to just mention your Electronic Insurance Account number.
 

Premium payments are made easy 

When you have an Electronic Insurance Account, you can pay your insurance Premiums online, avoiding cash and cheque transactions.

  
Track policies easily   

The policyholder with an eIA receives a yearly statement of holding of the purchased insurance policies and their status. Thus, it is easy to track and monitor the tenure/Premium/other policy-related information. 

In the event of death or incapacity of the policyholder, the family members/legal heirs will be able to access all the insurance policies without any difficulty and initiate claims for receiving the death-related policy benefits without delay since there is a provision to nominate an authorised person to access the account in such an eventuality. It is often seen that an individual’s physical record keeping is deficient, and where the policies are held in paper form, the family members are unaware of the existence of the policies and are unable to trace them. 

How do you open an e-insurance account?

Choose an insurance repository from any of the following:

• CDSL Insurance Repository Limited
• NSDL National Insurance Repository 
• CAMS Insurance Repository Services Limited
• Karvy Insurance Repository Limited
• Download the application form and complete it, disclosing all the mandatory information.
• Attach KYC documents such as identity proof, date of birth and address proof. A passport-size photograph is also to be submitted. 
• Provide personal details and bank details.   

Once you have submitted all the required information and documents, it takes a maximum of seven days (from the receipt of the application) to process and open your new Electronic Insurance Account.