Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors Regulations, 2015 and regulatory framework for surveyors
What the exam tests
This domain tests the statutory plumbing around the surveyor's licence: who may act, what a licence authorises, how appointment works, and what the 2015 Regulations require before, during and after a claim. Expect questions that combine section 64UM of the Insurance Act, 1938 with the IRDAI (Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors) Regulations, 2015.
Licensing and scope
- No person may act as a surveyor and loss assessor without a valid licence from IRDAI. The licence is personal, class-specific and time-limited; renewal must be applied for before expiry.
- The 2015 Regulations prescribe eligibility, the application form, fee, examination and the register maintained by IRDAI. A licence can be suspended or cancelled for misconduct after notice and hearing.
- The licence states the classes of general insurance the holder may survey. Accepting a fire or engineering loss outside a motor-only licence is a regulatory breach, even if the surveyor is technically competent.
Appointment and duties
- The insurer appoints the surveyor in writing; the surveyor must confirm acceptance and disclose any conflict of interest, including financial interest, relationship with the insured, or prior involvement.
- Core duties: verify the policy and its conditions, investigate the circumstances and cause, quantify the loss, consider salvage and subrogation, and submit a reasoned report. The Regulations require the report within 30 days of appointment unless the insurer agrees otherwise; interim reports are expected where investigation is prolonged.
- The surveyor is neither the insurer's advocate nor the insured's representative. The report must distinguish observed facts, documents, measurements and professional opinion.
Worked example
A surveyor holding a motor-only licence is asked to survey a factory fire loss of Rs 40 lakh. He inspects and writes a report. The insurer later disputes it. The surveyor has two problems: he acted outside his licensed class, and he did not record the basis of his stock valuation. The correct response at appointment would have been to decline and ask the insurer to appoint a surveyor licensed for fire. By accepting, his report is vulnerable and he faces licence action.
Traps
- Treating the licence as firm-wide or unlimited.
- Missing the 30-day reporting discipline.
- Failing to disclose a conflict, or accepting a fee linked to the claim outcome.
- Writing conclusions without the policy clause or measurement that supports them.