What is insurance repository?

SV RamananCAMS Repository Services

What is an Insurance Repository?An Insurance Repository (IR) is a company licensed by IRDA for maintaining data of insurance policies in electronic form on behalf of Insurers. An IR will thus enable policy holders to buy and keep insurance policies in electronic form, rather than as a paper document. Insurance Repositories, like Share Depositories or Mutual Fund Transfer Agencies, will hold electronic records of insurance policies issued to individuals and such policies are called “electronic policies” or “e Policies”. Only entities approved by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) can become an Insurance Repository and CAMSRep is among the first to launch an Insurance Repository.

What is an e Insurance Account (e IA)?A policy holder needs to open an e Insurance Account (e IA) with one of the Insurance Repositories to be able to buy and keep policies in electronic mode. An individual can have only one e IA with any one of the Insurance Repositories. Once an e IA is opened, the account holder can ask for the conversion of all his policies, issued by various Insurers, to electronic mode, to be credited to this single account; at present, only life Insurance policies can be bought as or converted into e Policies.

Each e IA will have a unique e Insurance Account number; the account holder should quote this number in all correspondence with CAMSRep. Each account holder will also get a unique Login ID and Password to access his account and electronic policy details online at www.camsrepository.com; he can also pay renewal premium online for all policies at this portal.

Benefits of holding Insurance Policies in electronic formThere are multiple benefits in holding insurance policies in electronic form under a single e Insurance Account (e IA). These benefits include:

• Safety: There is no risk of loss or damage of a policy as may happen with paper policies; the electronic form ensures that the policies are in safe custody and can be easily accessed when needed.


• Convenience: All insurance policies, be it life, pension, health or general, can be electronically held under a single e IA. This means all details of all policies are available in a single account (place). The details of any of the policies can be accessed at any time by logging on to the online portal of CAMS Repository (www.camsrepository.com). Premium for all the policies can be paid online and many service requests or complaints can be logged at this website.


• Single Point of Service: All service requests in respect of e IA or any of the electronic policies held under the e IA can be submitted at any of CAMS Repository’s service points – there is no need to go to the offices of individual insurance companies for service.


• Single KYC & Less Paper work: When you want to buy a new electronic insurance policy under an existing e IA, you don’t need to go through KYC verification all over again, if there are no changes to your KYC details already recorded in your e IA. Further, if you want to make any changes to your personal details like address or contact no, it is enough to change the details in your e IA with CAMS Repository by submitting a single request – CAMSRep, in turn, will inform all the insurance companies with whom you hold electronic policies, about the changes.All of CAMSRep’s services are absolutely FREE of charge – policy holders don’t need to pay CAMSRep (or anyone else) any fee for services availed at CAMSRep! (The Insurance Company will pay CAMSRep for the services provided, out of their cost savings)

Approved Person (AP)In order to discharge its services and obligations, an Insurance Repository may appoint Approved Persons (APs) to represent it before policy holders, subject to prior permission of IRDA.  IRDA Regulations allow Brokers and Corporate Agents licensed by IRDA to become ‘Approved Persons’ of Insurance Repositories to better service their customers. In such cases, the services of corporate agents and insurance brokers so appointed as APs shall be restricted to only those policies that are procured by them.

Who can become an AP?Only a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and having a paid up capital of more than Rs. 5 lakhs is eligible to be appointed as an Approved Person of an insurance repository. A company shall not be formed only for the purpose of carrying out the functions of an AP (hence, only an existing company fulfilling the requirements can be appointed as an AP)

A Corporate Agent or an Insurance Broker licensed by the Authority can become an AP provided his license is valid. As an AP, a corporate agent or an insurance broker can service only those policies that are procured by them An Insurer shall not be an Approved Person.  No individual or a sole proprietorship firm can act as an approved person.

How to become an AP?Every appointment of an Approved Person (AP) by an Insurance Repository (IR) will need to be approved by IRDA. The application for an Approved Person shall be sponsored by an Insurance Repository and will be submitted to the Authority (IRDA) by the Repository in form “A”. No Approved Person shall directly apply to IRDA for this purpose.

The IR will collect all the necessary information required by Form “A” from an AP applicant including supporting documents and the affidavit mandated by IRDA and forward it to IRDA for approval with its own endorsement / recommendation. Once the appointment is approved by IRDA, the AP will enter into a formal agreement with the Insurance Repository before commencing operations.

The CAMSRep EdgeCAMSRep has unique differentiators that set it apart from the other Repository:

• We are a neutral entity without any conflict of interest with Insurers or Brokers/ Agents. Nor do we have any channel partners with conflicting businesses. Hence, confidentiality of customer data is guaranteed


• We have a direct service delivery model with over 380+ points of presence across India


• We understand the Insurance Business well as we have been in Insurance Outsourcing business for the last few years

This translates into the following benefits / differentiators:

• CAMSRep can now be the single point of service for all the service needs of policy holders and APs in respect of all of their Insurance Policies, whatever the requirement – no need to approach individual Insurers for any service requirement!


• CAMS or CAMSRep don’t have any businesses with conflicts of interest, so personal data of policy holders will never be used (or misused) for any purpose other than servicing their needs. Our Information security standards ensure that your customer data remains strictly confidential and the e Policies remain safe and secure in our repository.

For more information on CAMSRep and Repository Services, look up the FAQs section in our website (www.camsrepository.com).

Current Scenario and what are the changes expectedCurrently the choice of participating in the IR initiative is left to the Insurer. IRDA is expected to release guidelines making mandatory participation of all Life and General Insurers in this initiative. The choice will only be with the policy holder is she would like to hold the policy in physical or electronic form.

In future, IRDA is likely to make holding policies in electronic form mandatory. It is advisable to open an eIA ( e Insurance Account) now. So get going!