Suit on an insurance policy:
how long do you have?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19 · quoted from the India Code bare-Act PDF
(a) The date of the death of the deceased, or where the claim on the policy is denied, either partly or wholly, the date of such denial; (b) The date of the occurrence causing the loss, or where the claim on the policy is denied, either partly or wholly, the date of such denial.
The Schedule row, as the Act prints it
Article 44Description: (a) On a policy of insurance when the sum insured is payable after proof of the death has been given to or received by the insurers; (b) On a policy of insurance when the sum insured is payable after proof of the loss has been given to or received by the insurers.
Period: Three years.
Time from which period begins to run: (a) The date of the death of the deceased, or where the claim on the policy is denied, either partly or wholly, the date of such denial; (b) The date of the occurrence causing the loss, or where the claim on the policy is denied, either partly or wholly, the date of such denial.
Open the bare Act on India Code →
In plain English
Civil suits on life policies run from the death (or from the insurer's full or partial denial of the claim); suits on loss policies (fire, marine, property) run from the occurrence causing the loss or from the denial. A repudiation letter therefore starts a fresh three-year window. Consumer-forum complaints against insurers instead follow the 2-year window in CPA 2019 s.69.
Where this comes up
- Life insurance claim repudiated for alleged non-disclosure
- Fire policy claim partly allowed, balance sued for
What can reset or extend this period
General rules for entries in the Suits division. The full statutory quotes (ss.5, 12, 18-19, 6-8) are on the finder page.
No condonation — ever
Section 5 applies only to appeals and applications, never to suits. A time-barred suit must be dismissed under s.3 'although limitation has not been set up as a defence'. There is no discretionary mercy for suits.
Acknowledgment and part-payment reset the clock
A written acknowledgment of liability signed by the party (s.18), or a part-payment acknowledged in the payer's handwriting or signed writing (s.19), gives a fresh period — but only if made BEFORE the current period expires. An acknowledgment of an already-barred debt creates no fresh period under this Act.
Computation exclusions
s.12(1) excludes the first day; s.4 lets you file on the reopening day if the period expires while the court is closed; s.14 excludes time spent prosecuting in good faith in a court without jurisdiction; s.15 excludes stay/injunction periods and statutory-notice time; s.17 postpones the start until discovery in cases of fraud, concealment or mistake. But s.9: once time begins to run, no subsequent disability stops it.
Legal disability
If the person entitled to sue is a minor or of unsound mind when the period would start, ss.6-7 let them sue within the same period after the disability ceases — capped by s.8 at three years from cessation, and denied entirely to pre-emption suits (Article 97).
This is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter. Limitation is brutally fact-sensitive — when the cause of action accrued, whether an acknowledgment or part-payment reset the clock, and which exclusions under ss.4-15 apply all turn on your specific facts. This page is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter, and it does not create an advocate-client relationship. A single day's error can be fatal to a claim: s.5 condonation never applies to suits, and several special-statute deadlines (Arbitration s.34(3), IBC s.61(2)) are hard ceilings no court can extend. Verify every period against the bare Act as currently amended and against current case law, and take advice on your own facts before acting. Provisions here were reviewed on 19 August 2026.