Surveyors and loss assessors
Section 64UM of the Insurance Act, 1938 deals with surveyors and loss assessors. Save as otherwise provided in this section, no person shall act as a surveyor or loss assessor in respect of general insurance business after the expiry of a period of one year from the commencement of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 (5 of 2015), unless he-- (a) possesses such academic qual The Act came into force on 01 Jul 1939.
1[64UM. Surveyors or loss assessors. --(1) Save as otherwise provided in this section, no person shall act as a surveyor or loss assessor in respect of general insurance business after the expiry of a period of one year from the commencement of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 (5 of 2015), unless he--
(a) possesses such academic qualifications as may be specified by the regulations made under this Act; and
(b) is a member of a professional body of surveyors and loss assessors, namely, the Indian Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors:
Provided that in the case of a firm or company, all the partners or directors or other persons, who may be called upon to make a survey or assess a loss reported, as the case may be, shall fulfill the requirements of clauses (a) and (b).
(2) Every surveyor and loss assessor shall comply with the code of conduct in respect of his duties, responsibilities and other professional requirements, as may be specified by the regulations made under the Act.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions, a class or class of persons acting as a licensed surveyor or loss assessor prior to the commencement of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 (5 of 2015) shall continue to act as such for such period as may be specified by the regulations made under this Act:
Provided that the surveyor or loss assessor shall, within the period as may be notified by the Authority, satisfy the requirements of clause (a) and clause (b) of sub-section (1), failing which, the surveyor or loss assessor shall be automatically disqualified to act as a surveyor or loss assessor.
(4) No claim in respect of a loss which has occurred in India and requiring to be paid or settled in India equal to or exceeding an amount specified in the regulations by the Authority in value on any policy of insurance, arising or intimated to an insurer at any time after the expiry of a period of one year from the commencement of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 (5 of 2015), shall, unless otherwise directed by the Authority, be admitted for payment or settled by the insurer unless he has obtained a report, on the loss that has occurred, from a person who holds a licence issued under this section to act as a surveyor or loss assessor (hereafter referred to as "approved surveyor or loss assessor"):
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to take away or abridge the right of the insurer to pay or settle any claim at any amount different from the amount assessed by the approved surveyor or loss assessor.
(5) The Authority may, at any time, in respect of any claim of the nature referred to in sub-section (4), call for an independent report from any other approved surveyor or loss assessor specified by him and such surveyor or loss assessor shall furnish such report to the Authority within such time as may be specified by the Authority or if no time limit has been specified by him within a reasonable time and the cost of, or incidental to, such report shall be borne by the insurer.
(6) The Authority may, on receipt of a report referred to in sub-section (5), issue such directions as it may consider necessary with regard to the settlement of the claim including any direction to settle a claim at a figure less than, or more than, that at which it is proposed to settle it or it was settled and the insurer shall be bound to comply with such directions:
Provided that where the Authority issues a direction for settling a claim at a figure lower than that at which it has already been settled, the insurer shall be deemed to comply with such direction if he satisfies the Authority that all reasonable steps, with due regard to the question whether the expenditure involved is not disproportionate to the amount required to be recovered, have been taken with due dispatch by him:
Provided further that no direction for the payment of a lesser sum shall be made where the amount of the claim has already been paid and the Authority is of opinion that the recovery of the amount paid in excess would cause undue hardship to the insured:
Provided also that nothing in this section shall relieve the insurer from any liability, civil or criminal, to which he would have been subject but for the provisions of this sub-section.
(7) No insurer shall, after the expiry of a period of one year from the commencement of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 (5 of 2015) pay to any person any fee or remuneration for surveying, verifying or reporting on a claim of loss under a policy of insurance unless the person making such survey, verification or report is an approved surveyor or loss assessor.
(8) Where, in the case of a claim of less than the amount specified in sub-section (4) in value on any policy of insurance it is not practicable for an insurer to employ an approved surveyor or loss assessor without incurring expenses disproportionate to the amount of the claim, the insurer may employ any other person (not being a person disqualified for the time being for being employed as a surveyor or loss assessor) for surveying such loss and may pay such reasonable fee or remuneration to the person so employed as he may think fit.
(9) The Authority may in respect of any claim of value of less than the amount specified in sub-section (4) on an insurance policy, if the claim has not been or is not proposed to be reported upon by a surveyor or loss assessor, direct that such claim shall be reported upon by an approved surveyor or loss assessor and where the Authority makes such direction, the provisions of sub-sections (5) and (6) shall apply in respect of such claim.
(10) Where, in relation to any class of claims, the Authority is satisfied that it is customary to entrust the work of survey or loss assessment to any person other than a licensed surveyor or loss assessor, or it is not practicable to make any survey or loss assessment, it may, by an order, exempt such class of claims from the operation of this section.]
Section 64UM, The Insurance Act, 1938 (Act 4 of 1938).
Cross-references
Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs M/s. Mudit Roadways
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
An insurance company is legally barred from raising additional or new grounds to defend its claim rejection beyond those explicitly detailed in its letter of repudiation. Furthermore, if the insured is not the instigator of a fire, the exact origin of the fire is immaterial to the insurer's liability to indemnify.
On this section: Mandates assessment by an approved surveyor for claims above Rs. 20,000 but reserves the right of the insurer to settle at a different amount.
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Khatema Fibres LTD vs New India Assurance Company LTD
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
The Consumer Forum's jurisdiction does not extend to performing forensic examinations of professional surveyor reports unless the report is proven to be arbitrary, ad-hoc, or in violation of the prescribed statutory code of conduct.
On this section: Examining statutory status of surveyors and the non-binding yet important nature of their reports.
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Khatema Fibres LTD vs New India Assurance Company LTD
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
A consumer forum cannot challenge or disregard the assessment of an approved surveyor unless the report is shown to be arbitrary, perverse, or based on extraneous considerations.
On this section: Role and status of licensed surveyors in analyzing insurance claims.
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New India Assurance Co. LTD vs Luxra Enterprises PVT LTD
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
An insurance company cannot sequentially appoint multiple surveyors to investigate a claim in order to subserve its own interest and escape liability, unless there are cogent, pre-recorded reasons showing inherent defects, arbitrariness, or exaggerations in the initial survey report.
On this section: Provisions governing licensing and appointment of surveyors and assessors for loss estimation.
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Made under this section, and citing it
1 instrument states that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.
Questions about Section 64UM
What have the courts held on Section 64UM of the Insurance Act?
New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs M/s. Mudit Roadways (24 Nov 2023) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Mandates assessment by an approved surveyor for claims above Rs. 20,000 but reserves the right of the insurer to settle at a different amount. Another 3 judgments on this section are set out below, all of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2019 to 2023.
How do I find court cases under Section 64UM of the Insurance Act?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Insurance Act 1938 64UM, section 64UM Insurance Act 1938, section 64UM of the Insurance Act. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 4 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs M/s. Mudit Roadways (24 Nov 2023).
What should I read with Section 64UM of the Insurance Act, and has it changed?
2 other provisions in this corpus refer back to it. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there is one: most recently Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors) Regulations, 2015 (2015).
When did Section 64UM of the Insurance Act come into force?
Section 64UM of the Insurance Act, cited as Insurance Act 1938 64UM, came into force on 01 Jul 1939, having been enacted on 26 Feb 1938. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.
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Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 15 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.