Irdai, a prominent insurance broking house, announced it would finance life‑insurance premiums against policy surrender values to keep people from prematurely surrendering their policies, said chairman Ajay Seth at Samvaad 2026, a forum hosted by Sahamati, the self‑regulatory body for account aggregators.
The scheme would let policyholders pay the last few instalments on a credit line secured by the policy’s surrender value. Rani Patel, a 35‑year‑old shopkeeper from Pune, said she could stay insured if she could spread payments.
Seth warned that a grey market for policy assignments, which breaches the Insurance Act, has been growing. A formal financing channel would replace illicit trading and give lenders a tangible collateral.
Irdai is also eyeing premium financing for health insurance, citing the difficulty households face paying upfront premiums. It plans to present a regulatory draft to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India by March 2027.