How to get a copy of the proposal form you signed

You should already have one: the insurer is meant to send a copy of your proposal form with the policy document. If you cannot find it, ask the insurer in writing for a complete copy of the proposal form as submitted, with every page and any medical examination report. When non-disclosure is alleged, the form shows what you were actually asked, so get it before you reply.

IRDAI's master circular makes it the insurer's duty to give you "either a soft copy or a hard copy of the proposal form submitted by the prospect, along with the policy document within 15 days of the acceptance of a proposal", at no extra charge. For health policies, the same circular lists the policy document, the proposal form, the Customer Information Sheet and medical reports, if any.^{[1, 2]}

So for a policy issued under these rules, asking again is a request for something you were owed already. The regulations also expect policyholders to be given clear and prompt information about their policies at all times.^[3]

Why the form matters in a dispute

A non-disclosure ground turns on what the form asked and what was answered, and the two can differ. Until you see the exact question, you cannot tell whether the fact the insurer names was ever asked about.

• Life policies and the three-year line: IRDAI's master circular says a life policy cannot be contested "on any ground whatsoever" after three years from the date of the policy. The same paragraph says no claim shall be repudiated without "legally tenable evidence", so ask what the insurer relies on; where non-disclosure is alleged, that may include the proposal form.^{[2, 1]}
• Who filled it in: Note whose handwriting or login the answers came from, and whether an agent or bank staff filled the form in for you. How that affects a non-disclosure ground depends on the facts, so record it now and take advice if it matters.
• Health policies after the moratorium: After sixty continuous months of cover, the regulations say no policy or claim can be contested for non-disclosure or misrepresentation except on grounds of established fraud. If the sum insured was increased, the sixty months for the increase run from the date of the increase.^[4]

How to ask

1. 1

   Write, don't call

   Email the insurer's servicing branch or customer service, quoting the policy number and, if you know it, the proposal number.

2. 2

   Ask for the complete document

   "A complete copy of the proposal form as submitted, with all pages, declarations and signatures, and any medical examination report obtained before the policy was issued."

3. 3

   Note the date

   Your request date belongs in your claim timeline; so does the date the copy arrives.

4. 4

   If it does not come, complain

   Policy servicing grievances, and a policy that is not in conformity with the proposal form, are both grounds the Insurance Ombudsman can consider, once the insurer has rejected your written complaint, not replied within one month of receiving it, or replied unsatisfactorily.^[5]

When it arrives, check

• The exact question: Set it beside the fact the insurer says you hid. Was that fact asked about, in those words?
• The date signed: Compare it with the dates in your medical records.
• Pre-policy medical checks: Whether the insurer arranged a medical examination, and what its report recorded.
• The policy against the form: Whether the policy issued matches what was proposed — sum insured, members, declared conditions.

ClaimAssure is an independent private platform. It is not an insurer, IRDAI, Bima Bharosa or the Insurance Ombudsman, it never files anything on your behalf, and it cannot promise any outcome. What it does is read your documents and show you what they say.

More on claim documents and evidence