Hi All. My Father had taken a life insurance policy from ICICI Pru in Feb/2007. The insurance Agent was aware of his pre-existing lever disease. However he did not record that in the policy documents. As a standard practise my father had done the required signatures and rest of the document was filled up by the agent himself. Regular payments have been made towards the policy over the entire payment term (3 years in this case). My father passed away in June,2010. Since then we have been chasing ICICI Pru to process the claim. After 3 months we got a response from them that
1) pre- existing disease was not disclosed at the time of taking the policy [To which we responded saying that the agent was aware of the fact and we could not be blamed if he did not mention the same in the policy documents]
2) Insured should have reviewed the policy and approached the insurer within 15 days from receiving the bond copy.
3) The policy could be repudiated under Insurance act 1938, section 45 (non disclosure of fact). However as a goodwill we will be paid back only the premium paid.
As per my understanding of act 1938, policy can not be questioned after 2 years from the date of policy commencement. Please advise what should I do in such a scenario? Is repudiation valid? Or should I approach the IRDA or Consumer court? What proofs do I need to produce? What is the success rate of such cases?
Timely response would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
