What is Electronic Insurance Account or eIA?: Insurance policy papers are difficult to manage. Ensuring that the health insurance policy of the entire family stays at one place along with other types of insurance papers such as your life insurance is cumbersome. To have all your insurance policies stored in one place safely and in a well-mannered way would be of so much help.
An electronic insurance account helps you in just that. Much like the certificate of securities, bonds and mutual funds can be stored in the Demat account in the electronic format, insurance policies can also be stored electronically in a separate distinct electronic insurance account with an Insurance repository. Here in this article, we will discuss the ins and outs of an electronic insurance account and guide you on how to open your electronic insurance account.
E-insurance Policy
All the insurance policies stored in an e-insurance account are termed as an e-insurance policy. An electronic insurance account acts as a depository for all of your health insurance policies, life insurance policy and other insurance policies. It is a safe and effective method to store your insurance policies in a much more manageable and less tiresome method. It saves you from all the unnecessary paperwork. Also, all your insurance policies are just a click away and in a matter of seconds, all of your insurance policy is in front of you along with all the relevant information.
An eIA is a depository for all of your insurance policies stored in an electronic manner. An eIA can be opened by a person who has insurance policies or who proposes to take insurance policies on his own. In the case of a minor, An eIA can be opened by his legal and natural guardian who proposes the life of a minor in case of life insurance policies. Only some certain companies, who act as insurance repositories can store the data in electronic form for insurers and open electronic insurance accounts for policyholders.
Both new and existing life, health and other general insurance policies can be credited to this account. The e-Insurance account can be used to hold all insurance policies such as health insurance policies, life insurance, car insurance etc. are eligible to be held in electronic form as per the IRDA guidelines. It includes-
- All the individual life insurance policies including those issued to groups by registered life insurance companies with IRDA.
- All general policies held by individuals including those held by groups.
- Any other class of Insurance policy if notified by IRDA under the guidelines.
It is mandatory for you to appoint an authorised representative and mention his contact information. In case the account holder is incapable of accessing the account, the authorized person can access the e-Insurance account. The authorized person is the one appointed by the account holder, who can access the account in the absence or demise of the account holder.
Features of an E-Insurance Account
Some of the salient features of an Electronic insurance account are as follows:
- An individual can only have one eIA in his/her name.
- All the insurance policies such as life insurance policy, health insurance policies and other general insurance policy from multiple insurers can be maintained in the same account.
- A unique account number is assigned to your account that can be used for all correspondence.
- To issue the policy in an electronic format one can simply insert the e-insurance account number in their proposal form and request your insurance policy electronic format when buying an insurance policy online.
- One is not required to submit the KYC details again as they are already verified by the insurance repository.
- A unique login ID and password is provided for every account so that the account holder can access their e-insurance account.
Advantages of an E-Insurance Account
Having an e-insurance account comes with a lot of added benefits. These are mentioned below:
- Safety and Security- By having an e-insurance policy you can save your policy from theft or damage. And since they are in electronic format you need not worry about losing them as well.
- Consolidated view- By storing all of your insurance policies in a single place you can view them all at once and keep track of a variety of insurance policies at once.
- One-Time KYC Submission- You are required to submit your KYC details only once when creating your e-insurance account. For all the insurance policies you then purchase online you are only required to submit the e-insurance account number and the policy will be issued.
- Environmental Friendly- Having an eIA saves you from unnecessary paperwork and promotes a paperless environment that is beneficial for our natural surroundings as well.
- Easy Premium Payments- After the e-account is active, you can pay the insurance premium online. This saves you a lot of time spent on long queues paying for your premium through cash or cheques in a much hassle-free way.
- Easy Monitoring- WIth all your insurance policies in one place you can easily monitor your insurance policies. Also, the insurance repository sends a yearly account statement for you to keep track of your insurance policies.
- No Insurance? No Problem- It is not necessary to purchase an insurance policy before you can open your e-insurance account.
- Better Service- An eIA holder can easily make any changes in the contact details, address for all of your insurance policies.
What is an Insurance Repository?
Insurance repositories are companies that are approved by IRDA that store your information online and open an e-insurance account for the policyholder. A total of four insurance repositories are registered with the IRDA. These are-
- Central Insurance Repository Ltd.
- NSDL Database Management Ltd.
- CAMS Repository Services Ltd.
- Karvy Insurance Repository Ltd.
List of Various Insurance Companies
The list of various insurance companies tied with these insurance repositories are as follows:
| Insurance Repository | Insurance Companies |
| NSDL Database Management Ltd. |
|
| Karvy Insurance Repository Ltd. |
|
| CAMS Repository Services Ltd. |
|
| Central Insurance Repository Ltd. |
How to Open an E-insurance Account?
Opening an e-insurance account is an easy and well-defined process. Here is the step-by-step information of opening an e-insurance account.
- First of all, you will have to choose your preferred Insurance repository out of the four approved by the IRDA.
- Central Insurance Repository Ltd.
- NSDL Database Management Ltd.
- CAMS Repository Services Ltd.
- Karvy Insurance Repository Ltd.
- Download the eIA opening form and fill in your relevant details.
- Attach self-attested documents including copies of identity proof, date of birth proof and address proof for KYC.
- Provide personal details, bank details through a cancelled cheque and contact details.
- Submit the following form to your insurance company.
- In case of opening an eIA account through your insurance provider, you need not fill in the KYC details. Your insurance provides will send your KYC details to the repository itself.
Necessary Documents Required for Electronic Insurance Account or eIA?
The following list of documents is required to open your e-insurance account.
- A cancelled cheque, containing your bank details.
- A latest passport size coloured photograph.
- Self-attested identity proof such as Voter ID card, Aadhaar card, passport etc.
- Self-attested copy of age proof.
Conclusion on What is Electronic Insurance Account or eIA?
Having an e-insurance account will help you in managing your insurance policies well. It will allow you to better monitor your policies and pay the premium with ease. Also, if you are dissatisfied with the service provided you can change your insurance repository anytime. An electronic insurance account has a lot of benefits and features that help in managing and monitoring all of your insurance policies.