How much money did Indians get as life insurance death claim in 2020-21? – Economic Times

We are in year three of the novel coronavirus pandemic. And last year, i.e., 2021, we saw the worst of what Covid-19 could do during the second wave. Lakhs lost their lives and scores more suffered financially. Life insurance was something that many had to dip into to help them tide through these unprecedented times.

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) annual report for 2020-21, in the individual life insurance sector, life insurers paid 10.84 lakh claims out of a total of 11.01 lakh claims in 2020-21, for a total benefit amount of Rs. 26,422 crore. The number of claims repudiated was 9,527 for an amount of Rs 865 crore and the number of claims rejected was 3,032 for an amount of Rs 60 crore. The claims pending at the end of the year was 3,055 for Rs 623 crore.

According to the annual report, “Insurers were directed to settle COVID-19 death claims expeditiously, by developing a quicker claim settlement process to suit the emerging situation.”


According to the IRDAI’s annual report for 2019-20, in the case of individual life insurance business, the life insurance companies have paid 8.46 lakh claims on individual policies, with a total payout of Rs 18,042 crore in the year 2019-20. The number of claims repudiated was 8,927 for an amount of Rs 555 crore and the number of claims rejected was 2,262 for an amount of Rs 20 crore.

Also read:
Latest life insurance claim settlement ratio of companies in 2022

Also read:
Which insurance companies have more claim paying capacity in India? Find out

How to make a life insurance death claim?

According to IRDAI’s consumer education website, when a person with a life insurance policy dies a claim intimation should be sent to the insurance company as early as possible. The assignee or nominee under the policy can do this. So can any close relative or the agent who handles the policy.

The claim intimation should contain information like the date, place and cause of death. The insurance agent has the duty to help the life assured’s family/ assignee to deal with the insurance company to fulfil the formalities for a claim.

The life insurance company will ask for the following documents:

Filled-up claim form (provided by the insurance company)
Certificate of death
Policy document
Deeds of assignments/ re-assignments if any
Legal evidence of title, if the policy is not assigned or nominated
Form of discharge executed and witnessed
Other documents such as medical attendant’s certificate, hospital certificate, employer’s certificate, police inquest report, post mortem report etc could be called for, as applicable.
If the insurer is satisfied with the genuineness of the claim, it will inform the claimant accordingly and pay the death claim amount.