An Overview of Insurance Self Network Platform

Insurance Self Network Platform or ISNP refers to an e-commerce portal concerning insurance services in India. Many business leverage e-commerce platforms to perform their sales operation and connect with a wider audience. IRDAI has acknowledged the potential of the e-commerce business model and launched the E-Commerce Insurance Self-Network Platform registration scheme. This registration cum scheme is mandatory for businesses that want to carry out the online selling of insurance policies.

Objectives served by the ISNP

Insurance Self-Network Platform (ISNP) aim at widening the footprint of insurance products and making them a necessity for most people. Keeping this goal in mind, IRDA has rolled out various directions to augment the scope of e-commerce in the insurance space. The platform provides for low-cost transactions of insurance products and improved market presence.

List of Services facilitated by the ISNP

A registered ISNP shall have the right to provide the given services in the insurance space:

• Issuance of Insurance Policy documents
• Nominations enlistment
• Assignment registration
• Administer insurance maturity, surrender, withdrawals, return benefits, and free-look cancellations.
• Nomination updations
• Payouts
• Arranging medical check-ups and sharing medical reports with the insurer in case of life or medical insurance.
• Issuance of insurance products endorsement
• Rendering loans against insurance products
• Fund Switching
• Making relevant changes to the T&C of an Insurance policy
• Securing renewed premiums and providing remittances to the insurer(s)
• Updating customer details as and when required.
• Declaration of updates
• Extending the coverage of the insurance policy

What is the difference between Web Aggregator and ISNP?

An ISNP and an insurance web aggregator provide for the online selling of insurance products via an interface.

The fundamental difference between the two is that the former is capable of onboarding various web aggregators. Meanwhile, the latter has limited scalability.

The ISP can approach various aggregators to pool different insurance policies. It acts as an integrated platform that leverages the comparison modules of each aggregator and other insurers.

Who can serve the role of ISNP in India? 

The applicant firm must have legal status. It must be registered either with MCA or ROFs. Apart from that, the applicant firm should comply with the following conditions:

1. The availability of a qualified principal officer is a must.
2. Also, staff should entail a qualified Financial Service Executive and an Insurance Sales Person.
3. The net worth should not be less than Rs 5 lakhs for a single branch. For multiple branches, the limit is not less than Rs 10 lakhs.
4. The name of the firm must have the term IMF. 

Documents for Starting Insurance Marketing Firm in India

The given section will highlight the mandatory documents for starting Insurance Marketing Firm in India

• Certificate of incorporation
• Articles of Association
• Memorandum of Association
• LLP agreement if the firm is registered under the LLP Act 2008
• Qualification and details concerning the principal officer
• Qualification and details concerning the Insurance Sale Person(s)
• Qualification and details concerning the Financial Service Executive(s)
• Net worth certificate
• Bank account statement
• Three-year business plan.
• Details about the IMF infrastructure
• Undertaking accorded by the principal officer
• Photographs concerning equipment and manpower
• Consent letter from the insurance companies

What is the process of registering the IMF in India?

The section below briefs out the process of registering the Insurance marketing firm in India:

Step 1: Arrange the documents that matter

Documentation plays a vital role in any registration process and IMF registration is no different. Refer to the section above to learn about the mandatory documents. Keep the listed documents as authentic as possible because of the stringent IRDA norms.

Step 2: File the registration application

Your next step should be the filing of the registration application. For this, you must visit the IRDA portal and complete the form filing activities. Make sure to perform a review after completing the form filing requirement to avert any errors.

Step 3: Upload the documents

Once done with the form filing, your next step should be uploading the mandatory document. While doing so, make sure to follow the standard format for document uploading.

Step 4: Application vetting

Keep up with the application progress and resolve the issue if occurred at any stage during verification. The authority will intimate any error (if occurred during vetting) with the applicant via registered contact details.

Step 5: Grant of registration

This is the final stage of the registration process in which the authority grants their approval to start the IMF in India. The approval will come in the form of a registration certificate.

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