How can I complain to IRDAI by email, phone or post?

Besides the Bima Bharosa portal, IRDAI's grievance call centre, the Bima Bharosa Shikayat Nivaran Kendra, takes complaints on toll-free 155255 or 1800 4254 732 and by email at complaints@irdai.gov.in, and you can post IRDAI's Complaint Registration Form to its Grievance Redressal Cell in Hyderabad. Complain to the insurer first, and send it yourself: IRDAI does not entertain complaints written by agents or other third parties.

Bima Bharosa is IRDAI's online route, but not the only one. IRDAI's grievance call centre takes complaints by phone and email, IRDAI accepts complaints on paper, and complaints that arrive these ways are captured in the same system.^{[1, 2]}

The channels

Using the paper form

• Use a separate form for each complaint.^[3]
• If you are writing about a claim, fill in the claim number: the form marks it mandatory for claim complaints.^[3]
• Fill in every field the form asks for, sign it, and attach copies, not originals, of your complaint to the insurer and its reply.
• Keep a photocopy of the whole set, and the postal or courier receipt.

Writing the email

Treat the email as a complaint, not a query. In the subject line give the insurer's name and your policy and claim numbers. In the body, say when you complained to the insurer and its reference number, what it replied and when (or that it did not reply), what you would like IRDAI to look at, and list the attachments. IRDAI's FAQ points to this email route when an insurer has not resolved a complaint within two weeks or you are unhappy with its resolution. The complaint email outline works here with small changes.^[2]

Before you use these channels

• Complain to the insurer first: IRDAI's grievance page says policyholders must first approach the insurer's grievance cell, and may approach IRDAI's Grievance Redressal Cell if there is no response within a reasonable time or the response is unsatisfactory.^[4]
• Send it yourself: IRDAI's grievance cell entertains complaints only from the insured or the claimant, not from advocates, agents or other third parties writing for them.^[4]
• Never pay anyone: Bima Bharosa does not ask complainants for payment of any kind, and warns against QR codes or links that claim to pay money into your account.^[5]

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.

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