Corporate Agent IC-38 Study Material - Core Syllabus, Principles and Conduct Rules
IC-38 tests whether the designated person of a corporate agency can explain insurance fundamentals, compare products honestly, handle documentation and claims, and operate inside the IRDAI conduct framework. Questions mix product knowledge with regulation and simple arithmetic, so memorised definitions alone will not carry you.
Core areas
- Principles of insurance: insurable interest (at inception for life, at the time of loss for general), utmost good faith, indemnity, subrogation, contribution and proximate cause.
- Products: term, endowment, money-back, ULIP and annuity on the life side; fire, marine, motor, health, engineering, liability and personal accident on the general side, with their standard exclusions.
- Documents and underwriting: proposal form, policy schedule, endorsements, warranties, deductibles, no-claim bonus, and the consequences of non-disclosure or misrepresentation.
- Claims: intimation, surveyor appointment, documentation, settlement or repudiation and timelines - health claims settled or rejected within 30 days of the last necessary document, cashless authorisation normally within an hour, discharge authorisation within three hours.
- Regulation: Insurance Act 1938, IRDAI Act 1999 and the IRDAI (Appointment of Insurance Agents) Regulations, 2016 - licensing, the designated person's 10+2 qualification, code of conduct, and the ceiling of three insurers each in life, general and health.
- Conduct: suitability, commission disclosure, mis-selling prevention, AML/CFT, and escalation from the insurer's grievance cell to the Insurance Ombudsman.
Worked example
A factory insured for ₹10 lakh suffers a ₹5 lakh fire loss; the property's actual value at risk was ₹20 lakh and the policy carries an average (underinsurance) clause. Claim = ₹5 lakh × (10 ÷ 20) = ₹2.5 lakh. The clause treats the insured as self-insuring the shortfall; had the sum insured matched ₹20 lakh, the full ₹5 lakh would be payable subject to the deductible.
Traps that cost marks
- Swapping subrogation (the insurer steps into the insured's shoes after paying) with contribution (two policies share the same loss).
- Believing utmost good faith binds only the proposer - it is mutual.
- Treating the nearest event in time as the proximate cause instead of the dominant, effective cause.