If you are deceived and the insurance company doesn’t redress your grievance, you can approach the IRDA.
Rahul was thrilled when he received an SMS offering him a 10-year interest-free loan for Rs 10 lakh. All he needed to do was to sign up for an insurance policy.
Beware of such messages! These are dubious messages sent by fraudsters waiting to swindle money. There have been similar cases of unsolicited mails, messages and phone calls in recent months where people have been cheated with promises such as interest-free loan, guaranteed returns and gifts on surrender of insurance policies. Three out of every 10 complaints that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority receives today are on unfair business practices by insurance agents. To avoid falling prey to these temptations, conduct a background check on the agent and go through the details of the contract.
KNOW YOUR AGENT
There are thousands of insurance brokers on the street but not all are licensed by the regulator IRDA to sell insurance. So, the first step to do when an agent approaches you is to ask for his IRDA licence and the identity card issued to him by the insurance company. If you have doubts, cross-check these by calling the insurance company or by logging on to IRDA’s web site (under agent locator in www.irdaonline.org). Recently, a person who claimed to be Bharti AXA’s agent collected premium from several customers of the company in Delhi and absconded. Later, on a complaint by a customer the person was traced and the money recovered. Also, it is always recommended that you pay the premium amount through cheque or online — in the insurer’s own portal. And, when you get an offer though SMS or mail, be doubly careful. Verify its genuineness by calling on the insurer. IRDA, of late, has been cracking down on fraudulent marketers and has also asked insurers to lay down procedures for identifying and investigating frauds.
READ THE BROCHURE
Reading the brochure and the policy document is also essential if you don’t want to fall for false claims. Several products in the market might have misleading names. A product called ‘returns multiplier’ may not necessarily give you a higher-than-market return and a ‘highest NAV guarantee’ product may invest large portions in debt and not mirror the stock market returns. So, look deeper into the policy document to understand the product attributes.
Information on premium payment term and policy term, lock-in period, conditions of surrender, nature of bonus are all key. Also, read the paragraph on charges. In some policies, for instance, policy administration charge is a percentage of annual premiums and not a fixed sum. So, in such policies, higher the premium, higher will be the outgo on charges and lower will be the amount that goes into investment annually. Now, what’s the guarantee that it was the original company’s brochure? C.L. Baradwaj, Chief Risk Officer of Bharti AXA Life, insists that the investors should see if the brochure has the insurance company’s name and logo. The best way, he suggests, is to check for the product details online on the company’s Web site.
WHAT IS THE RECOURSE?
If you are a victim of fraud, report it immediately to the insurance company. You can take a written complaint to the insurer’s branch office with details of your policy and the agent who has cheated you (his name, contact address or number, and any documents that he had given you). Also, take the details of any SMS or mails that he has sent you. The insurance company would then investigate the matter and get back to you within 15 days. However, if this doesn’t happen, you can approach IRDA. You can call the grievance redressal cell of IRDA on the toll free number155255 and register your complaint or mail it tocomplaints@irda.gov.in.
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