Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Avoid buying life insurance on the street

Monday, April 21, 2008

Avoid buying life insurance on the street

Dear Mr. Tan,
I need your advice. I was hard sell into buying an insurance policy outside a MRT station. The agent was hard sell, giving me a lot of attractions of the product, such as cash back and unemployment benefit. When I returned home, my family told me that this policy gives a bad return. What can I do?

REPLY
You can write to cancel the policy within 14 days and ask for a full refund of the premium.

Do not buy any insurance or financial product from sales people on the street. As a life insurance policy is a long term commitment, you need to understand it clearly. You cannot get a clear picture by listening to a presentation on the street.

Lesson: Do not buy a life insurance policy on the street

5 comments:

Anonymous said...: You should cancel them.You don't consult people to look into your financial life on the street, do you?
It is such an important matter. How much can be done in so short a time and who is this agent? Is he or she qualified. Why is he or she operating on the roadside? Just like asking ,"Why is the doctor or lawyer operating or practising on the street?" Would you want to consult them? Something is amiss, right?
These insurance agents are ONLY interested to sell you something, anything so long they can make some money out of it. They don't stand there or set up a booth to offer to help you with your finances. It is bullshit and con artistes at work.; April 21, 2008 9:47 AM
Anonymous said...: Here's my observations on the street booths.

People do not volunteer to walk into a bank or insurance company to buy a financial product or insurance.

Similarly, people don't walk into a doctor's or lawyer's office for no reason, unless something has happened.

Most people don't have a habit to insure themselves or save for retirement that is why booths are set up to enable the financial institutions to reach out to the masses and create awareness.

For starting out advisors who has no clients and whose friends don't buy from them, this is one means of getting new clients. Another way is cold calling.

By the way, I am also curious how Mr. Tan's new company is going to market their services. Are they going to cold-call, set up road show booths, or sent out pamphlets, or go into advertising on newspapers, radio, tv or buses, or through viral marketing?; April 21, 2008 9:26 PM
Anonymous said...: But getting talked into buying an insurance policy at roadside can be dangerous and disastrous.
Buying an insurance is unlike buying a piece of clothing, or an appliance, or some gadgets. You can see the demo, feel the appliance or test it before buying . Can you test the insurance product or watch it demonstrated or enjoy a trial period before deciding to keep it? Can you do all these?
For insurance, you depend on the seller whose words you have to trust completely before you decide to buy. His knowledge, his competence, his honesty, all these traits must be taken into consideration. Lacking any one of these can lead to unethical, inappropriate, wrong and mis-selling and misrepresentation.
Do yo have enough time or references ? Was your need checked
first and examined before prescribing the product? You see the whole process takes some time.You think the greedy agents will go through all that with you. In the first place setting up roadshow booth isn't for this purpose. He or she has to quickly work on the numbers. They don't have time to waste on need analysis. It is take it or leave it.It is product peddling like in the pasar malam. It is snake oil or koyok show at Waterloo Street.

Zhumeng:o); April 21, 2008 10:37 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; April 24, 2008 1:03 AM
Anonymous said...: These roadshows are no difference from illegal hawkers. They peddle different products. Their behaviour is the same except the illegal hawkers cannot cheat but insurance agents can.The hakwers' product are tangible and you can touch and see and even test.But with insurance it depends on the integrity and competence of the agents. But on the roadside you don't expect. They can't afford to give you a check up. It is a hit and run business. They have incentive trips and msdrt to think of and therefore they would sell you the products with highest commission. Whether the products meet your needs you decide and not them. You are the buyer and you should know or know what you want.They sell you on that basis. They have no time to analyse your needs.It is buyer beware and good luck if you buy the right product.; April 25, 2008 10:17 PM