The IRDAI Free-Look Mandate

Buying an insurance policy is a significant, long-term commitment. IRDAI recognised years ago that policyholders should have a genuine opportunity to review what they have purchased before they are locked in. The free-look period exists for exactly this reason — and its terms are worth understanding in detail before you need to use it.

How Long Is the Free-Look Period?

As of the latest IRDAI master circulars, the free-look period for life insurance and health insurance policies is 30 days from the date of receipt of the policy document — applicable to both policies sold through physical channels and online. Earlier regulations provided 15 days for offline policies; the extended 30-day window is now the uniform standard across distribution channels.

What Can You Return?

Both life insurance policies (term, endowment, money-back, ULIP, whole-life) and health insurance policies (individual, family floater, senior citizen) are covered by the free-look mandate. Group insurance policies issued to employers for employee benefit schemes are typically excluded from the free-look provision, as the employer is the master policyholder.

How to Exercise the Free-Look Right

• Write a letter or email to your insurer (check your policy document for the designated address) clearly stating your intent to return the policy and the reasons for doing so.
• Return the original policy document along with your request.
• Ensure your communication is sent within 30 days of the date you received the policy document; the date of receipt is critical, not the date of issuance.

What Refund Will You Receive?

The refund is not always the full premium paid. Insurers are permitted to deduct:

• A proportionate risk premium for the number of days the policy was in force.
• Stamp duty charges actually incurred.
• For ULIPs: the difference in unit NAV between the date of allocation and the date of cancellation (positive or negative).

In practice, for term plans returned early in the free-look window, the deductions are usually modest. For endowment plans, the deductions are similarly small. The bulk of your premium is returned.

Using Free-Look to Address Mis-Selling

The free-look window is your primary remedy if you were sold a policy that does not match what you were told. If an agent described a product as a "guaranteed returns plan" and the policy document reveals it is a market-linked ULIP, that discrepancy is grounds for returning the policy. Document the mis-representation in writing when you submit your cancellation request — this also helps IRDAI track mis-selling patterns.

Free-Look Renewal Caveat

The free-look right applies at inception. When you renew an existing policy, the free-look provision does not typically re-apply. It is most useful when you switch insurers or purchase a new product — use this period wisely to read the exclusions carefully.

Conclusion

The 30-day free-look period is a genuine safety net against hasty decisions and mis-selling. The smart approach, however, is to use the period as a verification window — confirm that the policy document matches what you agreed to, check the exclusions, and compare the terms against competing products before the window closes. For help evaluating whether your current policy serves your needs, the team at TruePolicy can give you an independent second opinion.