An updated customer information sheet (CIS) for health insurance cover providing policyholders key information in simple terms while highlighting their obligations to make transparent and fair disclosures will be issued from January.

From coverage details, waiting period, limits, exclusions, concepts like free look cancellation, migration, portability, moratorium period, guidance on procedure for claims submission and contact details for filing complaints will be available “in simple language in a snapshot”, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said, mandating the revised CIS to the insurers.

Obligations of policyholders to make transparent and fair disclosures of relevant information pertaining to their health since non-disclosure may affect the claim settlement will also be highlighted in the CIS.

The insurers are required to obtain signatures of the policyholders confirming they have noted the details of CIS and received it. IRDAI, in a release, said the revised CIS is expected to result in better-informed policyholders, reduced disputes and delays and a seamless health insurance experience for policyholders.

In a circular to the insurers, the regulator said the existing CIS was conceived as a solution to policy documents that may be fraught with legalese, there have been complaints “as a result of asymmetry of information between the insurer and the policyholder.” Stipulating the font size too, the regulator said the revised CIS should be made available in local language if any policyholder so desires. It also advises the insurers, intermediaries and agents to obtain policyholders acknowledgment on the sheet.

The circular comes close on the heels of the regulator constituting a 12-member committee for simplification of insurance policy wordings.

IRDAI mandates updated, simple customer info sheet for health insurance cover from January