7 Things to Keep in Mind to Avoid Insurance Mis-selling

Shailesh Kumar

3 years ago

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Insurance Mis-selling: Insurance is a well-regulated business and all insurance companies follow the basic guidelines provided by the regulator – The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). The regulator insists on basic guidelines as below :

Insurance should be sold by a licensed person only.
Insurance sellers must introduce themselves by giving a proper introduction.
All terms and conditions must be clearly explained.
Insurance is a subject matter of solicitation and no one can be induced to buy with the trap of any attached benefits.

But there are some fraudulent people who have wrong intentions. They try to make easy money by mis-selling insurance products. Their purpose is to sell a wrong insurance product by deliberately misrepresenting it. Beware of such people!

Tips to Avoid Insurance Mis-selling

How to Protect Yourself from Insurance Mis-selling?

Check the identity of the seller and ask them to share the purpose of the visit or call.
Ask your agent to explain each and every feature and benefit properly.
If the agent promises something which seems too good to be true, then verify them with the insurance company.
If the agent is offering the policy on the telephone call, ask him to meet physically.
Physically visit the insurance company and verify the details of the agent as well as the insurance policy the agent is offering you.
After the policy purchase, you will receive a verification call from the insurance company. Carefully listen to what they are saying and reply truthfully. If you have any doubts, ask right away.
A free-look period is given to all policyholders in which they can reconsider their decision of buying the policy. If during this free period, you feel that the policy was misrepresented to you or you do not need the policy, you can apply for free-look cancellation.

If you were mis-sold an insurance policy, then immediately contact your insurance company and inform them about the mis-selling. If you need help, you can contact Insurance Samadhan.*

Read How Insurance Samadhan Helped Sapna Who was Trapped in Insurance Mis-selling

Sapna lost her father during the pandemic. Her father’s insurance death claim was transferred to her bank account. A fake agent who was aware of the death claim falsely promised her a fixed deposit with superior benefits. He informed her that she needs to pay Rs. 5 lakh (one time) and she will earn Rs. 10,000 per month as an inbuilt pension plan after 5 years. She was lured by the offer and decided to invest the death claim of her father in the fixed deposit.

Later, she received a call for renewal (premium) which made her realize that an endowment policy has been mis-sold to her. She was required to pay premium for 10 years. She was helpless as she has no source of income and the money she had, was wrongly invested in an insurance policy that she never needed.

She tried to cancel her policy but failed. Then she watched the episode of Shark Tank and came to know about Insurance Samadhan.

She approached us with her case. We verified all the details of the case and came to the conclusion that it was a case of mis-selling of an insurance policy. We guided her on how to approach the insurance company and then helped her to take her case to Ombudsman. We were able to resolve the case within 8 months.

This is one among 14,500 insurance complaints that Insurance Samadhan has resolved over the last four years. The insurance complaints include claim rejection, delay in claim settlement, mis-selling and fraud in insurance.

*Insurance Samadhan is a private organization and has no association with IRDA or any Government body.