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Cloud-based general insurance company Digit Insurance on Tuesday announced the launch of the “Policy Genuineness Check" feature. The feature has been introduced to eliminate counterfeit issuance of insurance policies. The feature aims to help customers verify within a few seconds if the policy issued on Digit’s behalf is genuine or not.
The feature, which can be used on Digit’s website, partner portal and app, is currently available for motor and health insurance, and can be used by entering the policy number or vehicle registration number and policy start date, according to the company release.
This comes at a time when despite the industry trying to prevent fraud in the insurance space through multiple initiatives and an effective grievance redressal machinery, the issuance of counterfeit policies still remains a challenge.
Additionally, the industry in the recent past has witnessed multiple instances where fraudsters have posed as insurance agents or partners and issued fake policies. They also try to defraud customers over phone calls with an intention of renewing their policy. In a written reply in July 2019, the Ministry of Finance informed Rajya Sabha that fake motor policies to the tune of over ₹50 crore were issued in FY19. Digit’s “Policy Genuineness Check" solution will help mitigate such risks of fraud and protect policyholders’ interests, the company release noted.
How will the genuineness check feature work?
Apart from checking the policy status to check its genuineness, customers can also determine the legitimacy by looking at their policy document that has unique policy details-inscribed watermark. This watermark makes it difficult for anyone to tamper with the digital document as it details out policyholder’s name, vehicle number, make and model, policy start date and type of policy, the company release said.
Vivek Chaturvedi, Head of Direct Sales, Digit Insurance said, “our new simplified solution is an important addition to our existing bouquet of services for making insurance buying safe and secure for our customers. The industry typically has been seeing two types of frauds: document forging and issuance of fake policies through hoax calls under the garb of policy renewal. This new self-service feature will empower customers to check policy authenticity."
It is important to note that Digit is among the few insurers to offer policy genuineness feature on its website. A policyholder can currently check whether their motor policy is genuine or not on the VAHAN portal, the national vehicle registry by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The IRDAI, too, has undertaken multiple initiatives to increase customer awareness against fake policy issuance.
