Market Regulator, IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) has issued a public alert on the fraud calls being made in the name of IRDA. IRDA has clarified that neither they nor any of their authorized representatives has contacted customers for selling insurance / financial products.
For the last few weeks, many policyholders were getting calls from the so-called IRDA representatives stating that “IRDA has noticed that your existing insurance policy is giving you poor returns. As a onetime respite to you, we are allowing you to surrender your existing policy and transfer it to some better profit making policy. For this you will also have to submit some documents and pay a nominal fee …” In order to take preventive action, IRDA published the below caution message to general public on their website –
IRDA does not involve, directly or through any representative, in sale of any kind of insurance or financial products. IRDA does not announce any bonus for policyholders or insurers Any person making any kind of transaction with such individuals/agents who are claiming themselves to be associated with or part of IRDA, will be doing the same at his / her own risk.
It is still unknown as to who is behind such fraud calls. But it is suspected to be agents who haven’t met their monthly target of revenues and hence choosing this unlawful way of cheating innocent customers.
Some private insurance companies like ICICI Prudential Life, HDFC Life and Reliance Life have lodged a complaint with Economic Offence Wing against the malpractices prevalent in the Industry. Mr. Rajit Mehta, Executive Director and COO at Max Life Insurance, mentioned that such Malpractices are on the rise by many fly-by-night operators and smalltime brokers who now have access to the database of the customers. They misuse the database for their own benefit and rob customers in deceitful manner.
Steps to safeguard yourself from possible frauds:
1. Call up on the helpline number of the Insurance Company and clarify all doubts regarding your existing policy or a policy you wish to buy
2. Ask for the IRDA License number of the person who is trying to sell you the insurance policy (As a rule, no one without a valid license is allowed to sell any insurance policies)
3. Demand all commitments and assurances made by the agent to be shown in a company brochure / policy wordings or on the company website
4. Most importantly, fill up the Application / Proposal form yourself
5. Retain a copy of the Proposal Form so that it can be cross verified with the copy that comes attached with the Policy Bond. In case of any discrepancy, the policyholder can cancel the policy within the Free look Period without bearing any charges.
