Claim settlement runs against fixed timelines under the IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests, 2024, and the Master Circular on Health Insurance Business, 2024. These are general timelines, not legal advice.
Settlement turnaround times
- Life death claim: settled within 15 days of intimation; 45 days if the claim warrants an investigation.
- Health reimbursement (non-cashless) claim: settled within 15 days of submission of the claim.
- Motor / property (general) claim: the insurer must decide within 7 days of receiving the survey report, or within 15 days of allocating the surveyor, whichever is earlier.
Surveyor timelines (general insurance)
- A registered surveyor is mandatory for motor losses of ₹50,000 or more and non-motor losses of ₹1 lakh or more.
- The surveyor must be allocated within 24 hours of the claim being reported, and must submit the report within 15 days. If the surveyor delays beyond 15 days, ₹500 per day of delay is payable to the claimant.
Health cashless and discharge
- A cashless authorisation must be decided immediately, and in no case later than one hour of the request.
- A final discharge authorisation must be granted within three hours of the hospital's request, and the policyholder must not be made to wait to be discharged. If the insurer misses the three-hour window, any additional amount the hospital charges for the delay is borne by the insurer, not the patient.
Interest on delay
If a claim is not settled within the applicable timeline, the claimant is entitled to interest at the bank rate plus 2%, from the date the insurer received intimation of the claim until the date of payment. The insurer must pay this interest suo-moto (automatically), without being asked.
No rejection for missing documents or late intimation
A claim cannot be rejected or closed merely for want of documents or for delayed intimation. For health claims, the insurer and TPA must themselves collect the required documents from the hospital.
If it stays stuck
Delay in settlement is an express, stand-alone ground of complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman (Rule 13(1)(a), Insurance Ombudsman Rules 2017). The Ombudsman is free, its award binds the insurer within 30 days, and a further penalty is payable to the complainant if the insurer does not honour the award.
Source: IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders' Interests, 2024 (IRDAI/PP&GR/CIR/MISC/117/9/2024); Master Circular on Health Insurance Business, 2024 (IRDAI/HLT/CIR/PRO/84/5/2024). Last reviewed 2026-07-11.