Unclaimed Maturity Amount from LIC Policyholders is Increasing, Says Centre

Hyderabad: The total amount of unclaimed funds in respect of maturity claims is increasing consistently with the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation. As against Rs 480.78 crore unclaimed amount from 2,43,790 policyholders in 2019-20, it has increased to Rs 880.93 crore from 3,72,282 policy holders in 2023-24. However, the total unclaimed amount from deaths have decreased from Rs.2.02 crore from 89 policy holders to Rs.0.14 crore in the same period.

Replying to an unstarred question raised by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for finance Pankaj Choudhary said that a number of steps have been undertaken to reduce unclaimed and outstanding claims.

He said as per the provisions of Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund Rules, 2016 notified by the government of India and as per the master circular issued in 2017 issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, all insurers, including LIC, who have unclaimed amounts of policyholders for a period of more than 10 years are required to transfer the same with interest to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund every year. Further, even after transfer of the unclaimed amounts to the Fund, a policyholder or claimant will continue to be eligible to claim the unclaimed amounts under their respective policies for a period of up to 25 years.

Besides sending reminder letters, the LIC also gives advertisements in print and electronic media apart from radio jingles for policyholders to claim their due amount. LIC also places unclaimed claim data on their website and holds policy service camps in residential areas to educate and reach out to them, Pankaj Choudhry said.