India’s Top Life Insurers in 2025: HDFC, Max Life, and LIC Lead in Claim Settlements – IRDAI Report

Life insurance serves as a crucial financial safeguard, ensuring that policyholders’ families receive financial support in case of unforeseen circumstances. However, the true reliability of an insurance provider lies in its ability to settle claims efficiently and fairly.

Understanding the Claim Settlement Ratio

The claim settlement ratio (CSR) is a key metric that reflects an insurer’s trustworthiness. It represents the percentage of total claims settled by the company in a given period. A higher CSR indicates a greater likelihood of timely claim payouts, while a lower ratio may signal delays or denials.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) publishes annual data on CSR in its Handbook on Indian Insurance Statistics. This report provides insights into how different insurers handle claims, helping policyholders make informed decisions.

Latest Claim Settlement Ratios (2025) According to IRDAI

As per IRDAI’s latest report for the financial year 2023-24, the overall claim settlement ratio for individual death claims within 30 days across all life insurers in India stood at 96.82%.

Performance of Private and Public Life Insurers

• Private life insurers demonstrated remarkable efficiency, achieving an average 99% claim settlement ratio for individual death claims settled within 30 days.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the largest public-sector insurer, led in terms of the number of claims settled, processing 799,612 policies within 30 days.

Top-Performing Life Insurers

Several insurers achieved a 100% claim settlement ratio, meaning they processed all individual death claims within 30 days. These include:

• Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance
• Ageas Federal Life Insurance
• Future Generali Life Insurance
• Aviva Life Insurance

Other notable performances:

• HDFC Life Insurance: 99.97% CSR, settling 19,333 policies within 30 days.
• Max Life Insurance: 99.08% CSR within the same period.

Claim Settlement Ratio by Benefit Amount

Apart from the number of claims settled, it is also crucial to consider the percentage of the total benefit amount paid out. This reflects how much of the collected premiums an insurer actually returns to policyholders’ beneficiaries.

• HDFC Life Insurance: 99.98% of total claim amount paid within 30 days.
• Max Life Insurance: 99.97% payout rate in the same timeframe.

Key Observations

• A higher CSR means greater chances of receiving a claim payout without hassles.
• A lower CSR may indicate potential claim rejections or delays.
• While CSR is important, policy coverage, premium rates, and financial stability should also be considered before choosing an insurer.

Exclusion of Sahara India Life Insurance

The data for 2023-24 does not include Sahara India Life Insurance Company Ltd (SILIC), as its life insurance business was transferred to SBI Life Insurance on June 2, 2023, following an IRDAI directive.

Source of Data

All claim settlement ratio figures are based on the Handbook on Indian Insurance Statistics 2023-24, published by IRDAI. These figures reflect the claim performance of insurers during the financial year 2023-24.