Insurance Agent Website: What IRDAI Allows and What Clients Look For

A family in Kharghar is about to buy a health policy from an advisor they met at a society meeting. Before paying, the son searches the advisor’s name. He finds a WhatsApp number, a Facebook page full of festival greetings and a one-page site that says “Best Insurance Advisor in Navi Mumbai” with no insurer named, no agent code and no address. He does not call. He buys online instead, from a portal that answered his questions.

This is the problem most agents bring to us: the website exists, but it does not help the person who is checking you. This guide answers one question: what should an insurance agent’s website show, and what are you allowed to put on it? It covers what clients look for, what the IRDAI rules say about identity and advertising (with sources, and hedged where the rules are unclear), what needs your insurer’s approval, and a page-by-page checklist you can build yourself. I run a web and software company, not a compliance office. Treat the rules here as a map and confirm each point with your insurer’s channel or compliance team.

What should an insurance agent website include?

An insurance agent website should include your full name, the insurer or insurers that appointed you, your agent code or licence reference, office address and phone, a plain explanation of the products you sell, a claim-help page, a contact form with a consent notice, and links to the insurer’s own verification and grievance pages.

Everything else is optional. In the agent and agency sites we build, the pages people actually open are the about page, the claim-help page and the contact page. Product pages get read when they explain something specific, such as how a health policy’s waiting period works, not when they repeat a brochure.

1. Identity and licence details clients look for

Clients look for proof that you are a real, appointed agent: your name and photo, the insurer you represent, your agent code, how long you have been an agent, where your office is and how to check you with the insurer. Show these on every page, usually in the footer and on the about page.

The rules point the same way. The IRDAI (Appointment of Insurance Agents) Regulations, 2016, as published on LIC’s site, say the insurer gives each agent an identity card linking the agent to that insurer (Regulation 4(7)). The code of conduct in Regulation 8 says every agent shall “identify himself and the insurer of whom he is an insurance agent” and show the identity card, and the appointment letter on demand. I have not found an IRDAI rule that addresses an individual agent’s own website by name. My reading is that the website should simply do what the code of conduct asks you to do in person.

There is also a way for clients to check you independently. IRDAI’s Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders’ Interests of 5 September 2024 is reported to require insurers to offer a search tool on their websites for verifying authorised distribution channels. Linking to your insurer’s verification page, and telling clients what to type into it, is the strongest trust signal you can add.

Source: IRDAI (Appointment of Insurance Agents) Regulations, 2016, as published by LIC; IRDAI Master Circular on Protection of Policyholders’ Interests 2024, as reported by TeamLease RegTech. The “why clients look for it” column is Infoways’ experience.

One more reason to keep these details current: Regulation 13 says a suspension or cancellation order is displayed on the insurer’s website and updated in the centralised list of agents. Clients who check can see whether you are active. A site that still shows an old insurer after you have moved creates exactly the doubt you are trying to remove.

2. Pages that build trust

Five pages build trust for an agent: an about page with your history and appointment details, product pages that explain rather than sell, a claim-help page, a contact page, and, if you want, calculators with clear disclaimers. A home page that links to these is enough.

About

Write it like an introduction at a society meeting: who you are, since when, which insurer, which areas you cover, which languages you speak, and how you work after the sale. Avoid “best”, “No. 1” and “guaranteed”. A photo of you at your office does more than a stock image of a happy family.

Products explained

Explain how a type of cover works in plain words: what term insurance pays, what a health policy’s waiting period is, why motor renewal dates matter. Send readers to the insurer’s official product page and brochure for features and premiums. Two current facts worth explaining, with sources: individual life and individual health premiums became GST-exempt from 22 September 2025, while motor and group policies are still taxed; and life and health policies carry a 30-day free-look period under the 2024 master circular, as reported.

Claim help

This is the page that separates an agent from a portal. List the documents for common claims, the insurer’s claim number and app, what you will do for the client, and the grievance route if something goes wrong. Your code of conduct already expects you to assist policyholders and claimants with claim requirements (Reg. 8). The official route, per IRDAI’s policyholder site, is to approach the insurer’s grievance cell first, then IRDAI through the Bima Bharosa portal, toll-free 155255 or 1800 4254 732, or complaints@irdai.gov.in. Note that IRDAI entertains complaints only from the insured or claimant, not from agents, so your page should help the client file, not promise to file for them.

Calculators

A simple “how much cover do I need” calculator based on income and loans is useful and does not quote any product. A premium calculator is different: premiums belong to the insurer, so link to the insurer’s own calculator or embed only a tool your insurer provides or approves. Every calculator needs a disclaimer that results are estimates and that the policy document and the insurer’s quote decide.

See also: the general website problems that lose enquiries for any business, such as hidden phone numbers and slow pages, are in website mistakes that cost customers.

3. What needs your insurer’s approval?

Treat anything that promotes a specific product, quotes a benefit or premium, or uses the insurer’s name and logo as an advertisement that needs your insurer’s approval. Factual information about yourself, general education about insurance and official grievance routes are lower risk, but confirm the boundary with your insurer.

IRDAI replaced its 2021 advertisement regulations in 2024. The Master Circular of 19 June 2024, as reported, requires insurers and distribution channels to have advertisements approved internally, follow the ASCI code, and not advertise unit-linked products as investment products. Mondaq’s summary describes the move to an insurer-run approval system. In practice, insurers want agents to use their approved material. A 2023 Cafemutual report quoted one insurer saying every advertisement by an insurance partner must be approved by the company in writing before issue, and another flagging agent posts that left out the company’s identification number or product UIN.

Source: IRDAI master circular of June 2024 as reported by Business Standard and Mondaq; insurer practice as reported by Cafemutual (April 2023). The “typical approval need” column is our reading; your insurer’s rules decide.

In the agency sites we build, every approved item sits in a content library with the insurer’s approval reference and an expiry date. When the approval lapses, the page drops off the site. That one rule removes most of the risk of an old brochure claim staying online for years.

4. Lead forms with consent under the DPDP Rules

A lead form collects personal data, so it needs a short consent notice that says what you collect, why, who it is shared with (your insurer, for a quote), and how to withdraw. Collect only what you need for the first call: name, phone, city and the cover they want.

The PIB explainer on the DPDP Rules says the Rules were notified on 14 November 2025 with an eighteen-month period for phased compliance, that every data fiduciary must issue a separate, clear consent notice explaining the specific purpose, and that people may withdraw consent at any time. Penalties under the Act go up to ₹250 crore for failing to keep reasonable security safeguards and up to ₹50 crore for other violations. An individual agent is unlikely to be the target of the biggest penalties, but health details, family members’ ages and existing policies are the most sensitive data most small businesses ever hold.

• Do not ask for health details on the website. Collect them later, on the insurer’s proposal form, where they belong.
• Separate consent for marketing. A tick box for “send me renewal and product updates on WhatsApp” that is unticked by default, apart from the consent to be contacted about this enquiry.
• Say who sees the data. “Shared with [insurer] to prepare your quote” is clearer than a long privacy policy nobody reads.
• Store leads somewhere safe. Form submissions landing in a personal Gmail and a phone gallery of screenshots is the most common setup we see, and the hardest to secure.

5. Speed and mobile

Most people will check you on a phone, often on a weak signal outside a hospital or at a society gate. Aim for Google’s “good” Core Web Vitals: the main content visible in 2.5 seconds or less, responses to taps within 200 milliseconds, and no layout jumping.

Those thresholds come from web.dev’s Core Web Vitals guide, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads. The usual culprits on agent sites are large image sliders, embedded social feeds and chat widgets that load before the text. A tap-to-call button and a WhatsApp link at the top of the mobile view matter more than any animation.

See also: if your site is slow, our guide to speeding up a website lists the fixes in the order that usually helps most.

6. Google Business Profile for an insurance agent

If clients can meet you at an office during stated hours, set up a Google Business Profile in your real name or your agency’s real name, with that address. If you only visit clients at home, set it up as a service-area business and hide your address.

Google’s Business Profile guidelines say individual practitioners, giving examples like real estate agents and lawyers, qualify when they can be contacted at the verified location during stated hours; that the name must reflect the real-world name without keywords; and that service-area businesses should hide their address. So “Ramesh Patil, LIC Agent” is fine only if that is how you present yourself in real life, and “Best Insurance Agent Vashi” is not a name.

Reviews follow Google’s rules too. Its contribution policy bars offering incentives for reviews and selectively asking only happy clients. Ask every client after a policy is issued or a claim is settled, and never offer anything in return. Do not quote reviews as product claims on your website.

See also: the full setup, categories and posting routine are in our Google Business Profile guide.

7. What not to publish

Do not publish guaranteed returns, comparisons that run down other insurers, unit-linked plans described as investments, premiums or benefits that are not from approved material, offers of gifts or rebates, client health or claim details, or testimonials that read as product promises.

• Rates or terms other than the insurer’s. The code of conduct bars offering different rates, advantages or terms from those of your insurer (Reg. 8). “Free gift with every policy” falls here.
• Replacement pitches. The code bars forcing a policyholder to end an existing policy and take a new one from you within three years. A page titled “Switch your old policy now” invites trouble.
• Recruitment schemes. The 2016 Regulations bar multilevel marketing for insurance. “Join my team and earn on your referrals’ referrals” must not appear.
• Client stories with details. A claim story is persuasive, but names, illnesses and amounts are personal data. Use it only with written consent, and keep it general.
• Superlatives and rankings. “Top advisor” or a contest badge from your insurer reads as a claim. If your insurer approves its use, show it as the insurer words it.
• Old content. Withdrawn products, old GST rates and expired offers are the most common errors we find on agent sites.

8. Where a website and software make this reliable

Software helps by keeping the details that must stay correct in one place: your appointment details, the approved content with its expiry, the consent each lead gave, and the follow-up date. The website reads from that record, so nothing goes stale when you are busy.

An individual agent can manage with a simple site and a spreadsheet. Once you have a team of advisors, POSPs or sub-agents, each with their own pages and leads, the manual version breaks. We build agency websites tied to a client and renewal system, with each advisor’s profile, approved content library, consent records and lead routing in one backend; the details are on our insurance agent software page.

For calling, keep one more rule in mind: TRAI directed insurers and insurance intermediaries to make service and transactional calls from 1600-series numbers from 15 February 2026, according to Taxmann’s summary of the IRDAI circular. If your website offers a call-back, ask your telephony provider and insurer which number series your calls should come from.

9. Where this advice breaks down

This checklist has limits: IRDAI has no specific rule on agent websites that I could find, insurers set their own stricter rules, corporate agents and brokers work under different regulations, and the rules have changed several times since 2023. Your insurer’s written guidance overrides anything here.

• Insurer rules differ. Some insurers do not want agents to run their own sites at all, or require the site on an insurer-provided platform. Ask before you build.
• Regulations are moving. The insurance laws were amended by Parliament in December 2025, and IRDAI has issued several master circulars since 2024. I have quoted the 2016 agent regulations as published; check whether your insurer works from a newer instrument.
• Brokers and corporate agents are different. A broker acts for the client and has its own disclosure duties. This guide is written for individual agents and small agencies.
• A website does not replace advice. The code of conduct asks you to consider the prospect’s needs before recommending a plan. No page can do that for you.

I would also warn against the opposite mistake. Some agents avoid a website altogether because they fear the rules. A plain factual site with your identity, a claim-help page and a consent-ready form carries little risk and answers the question every client is asking: is this person real?

Page-by-page insurance agent website checklist

Use this table to build or review your site. Each row is one page; build them in this order.

Source: Infoways’ page plan, based on the IRDAI agent code of conduct (2016 Regulations), IRDAI policyholder grievance page, DPDP Rules 2025 (PIB) and Google’s Business Profile guidelines. Confirm with your insurer before publishing.

The son in Kharghar was not looking for a slogan. He wanted to know the advisor was real, appointed and reachable at claim time. Build the site that answers those three things and the rest is detail.