General Insurance Grievances Nearly Triple to 1.78 Lakh in FY26, RBI Report Shows
General Insurance: Reported grievances against India’s general insurers nearly tripled to 1.78 lakh in 2025-26, per RBI’s Financial Stability Report, even as life insurance complaints declined and overall insurance premiums grew 11.7 per cent for the year.
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New Delhi: Policyholder complaints against general insurers in India rose sharply in 2025-26, with reported grievances nearly tripling to 1.78 lakh during the year, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Stability Report (FSR) for June 2026, which cites data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
The report described the rise as pointing to shortfalls in claims management, service quality and product communication in the general insurance segment. Life insurance grievances, by comparison, followed the opposite trajectory, declining from a peak of over 1.5 lakh complaints in 2021-22 to 1.2 lakh in 2025-26.
The RBI noted that unresolved conduct-related issues in general insurance could affect policyholder trust and renewal rates over time, and flagged the trend as relevant from a financial stability perspective.
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General Insurance: Premium growth and claims trends
The grievance data comes as India’s overall insurance sector continued to expand. Total premium income across life and general insurance reached ₹13.3 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, registering growth of 11.7 per cent over 2024-25, with a five-year CAGR of 9.9 per cent from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Life insurance premiums stood at ₹10 lakh crore, while general insurance premiums reached ₹3.4 lakh crore.
Within general insurance, net incurred claims rose from approximately ₹1.4 lakh crore in 2021-22 to ₹2.1 lakh crore in 2025-26, an increase of nearly 50 per cent over five years. Health and motor insurance together accounted for 95.3 per cent of net incurred claims in 2025-26, with health insurance alone making up 55 per cent of the total, driven by medical inflation, rising hospitalisation rates and expanding coverage — a trend The Insurance Reporter covered separately this week.
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Public sector general insurers recorded wider underwriting losses in 2025-26, and standalone health insurers and private general insurers also posted underwriting losses during the year, the report said. Investment income continued to offset these technical losses across the segment.
General Insurance: Market structure
The report also noted differences in market concentration between the life and general insurance segments. The life insurance segment remained highly concentrated, with the top five insurers accounting for 81 per cent of total premium in 2025-26. The general insurance segment was comparatively more diversified, with the top five insurers accounting for 41 per cent of gross direct premiums.
General Insurance: Regulatory measures
IRDAI has introduced several measures during the year relevant to grievance redressal and customer outcomes. The regulator revised its corporate governance norms to require that 50 per cent of key managerial personnel (KMP) variable pay at insurers be linked to IRDAI-mandated parameters, including claims responsiveness, grievance redressal and the elimination of “dark patterns” in customer interactions and distribution channels. Insurers are now required to disclose these performance parameters, along with three years of historical data, on their websites.
Separately, IRDAI, in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has constituted 10 thematic working groups involving insurers, hospitals, hospital associations, the General Insurance Council, diagnostic centres and academicians to examine issues including claims management, healthcare provider engagement, fraud mitigation and policyholder experience. The first phase of this initiative runs from March to December 2026, with progress reviewed monthly.
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IRDAI has also set up a Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund under the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025, with an initial corpus of ₹800 crore, to be used for policyholder education and protection initiatives.
Additionally, IRDAI has moved to simplify compliance for insurance intermediaries under the same Act, replacing the earlier three-year registration renewal cycle with a system of perpetual registration subject to payment of an annual fee, with transitional arrangements in place between February and June 2026.
The regulator has also issued Information and Cybersecurity Guidelines, setting minimum standards and governance mechanisms for all regulated entities to strengthen defences against emerging cyber threats. A dedicated Sub-Committee on Health Insurance was constituted in April 2026 under the Insurance Advisory Committee to specifically review private health insurance coverage, product design, claims experience and grievance redressal outcomes, with a mandate to recommend policy and operational measures aimed at improving financial protection and consumer trust across the segment going forward.
