Insuring dying & dead: 50 firms, finmin meet with senior cops

Meerut: Six months after a multi-crore insurance scam surfaced in UP's Sambhal district, senior officials from the Union finance ministry , insurance regulatory bodies , over 50 insurance companies, and investigative agencies met in Sambhal on Monday to plug critical policy gaps and improve coordination. At the conclave hosted by UP Police , officials proposed systemic reforms to combat insurance fraud , including changes to Section 45, improved data sharing, and tighter scrutiny of investigation processes.

The scam, first reported by TOI, involved policies being taken out in the names of terminally ill or dead individuals across more than 12 states. "The findings uncovered during the probe prompted the need for a national-level dialogue on fraud prevention. The idea came from the case details we encountered over the past six months," said Anukriti Sharma, Sambhal additional SP and lead investigator.

SP Krishna Bishnoi said the conclave concluded with a range of suggestions. "We discussed better coordination among insurers, the need to relook Section 45, investor protection, standardisation of probe procedures, and stronger communication between cops and insurance firms," he told TOI.