A practical guide for the week after a rejection

Written for policyholders in India · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

The week after a rejection is a good time for the useful work, while the letter and the treatment are fresh. Here is a plan for it.

Day 1 — read the letter properly

Find the decision, the reason and the clause. Write down the claim number, the policy number and the date of the letter.

Day 2 — read the clause in your own policy

Open the wording at the clause they cited and read it whole, including exceptions and any definitions it depends on. Note anything that does not fit your situation.

Days 3–4 — collect what answers it

Gather the documents that bear on the specific reason: medical records for a diagnosis date, earlier policies for continuous cover, the proposal form where disclosure is alleged.

Day 5 — write to the grievance officer

A short, dated letter that quotes their reason, answers it with your facts, lists your enclosures and says what you are asking for. Say plainly that it is a complaint, because an inquiry or service request is not treated as one; the insurer should then resolve it within 14 days.

Then keep the file

Every reply, every reference number, every date. If this escalates, that record is your case.

What each day is actually for

The order matters more than the speed. Reading the clause before collecting documents tells you which documents to collect; writing before either produces a letter that argues with the wrong thing.

Reading the letter: You are looking for three things: the decision, the reason as written, and the clause number beside it.
Reading the clause: The whole clause, its exceptions, and any definition it depends on. Insurers summarise; policies qualify.
Collecting evidence: Only what bears on their stated ground. A thick file of irrelevant paper is weaker than four documents that answer the point.
Writing: Short, dated, specific, and asking for something definite — reconsideration of the claim, or the exact relief you want.

If you get nowhere

The insurer's grievance officer is the first stop, not the last. If their answer does not resolve it, you can register the complaint on IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal, and you can go to the Insurance Ombudsman if the insurer rejects your written complaint, does not reply within one month, or replies unsatisfactorily. Approach the Ombudsman within one year of the insurer's rejection or reply — or, if it never replied, within one year of the end of one month after you sent your complaint.

Whatever you do, do not let the dates run out while waiting for a phone call that was promised. Put everything in writing, and keep what you sent.