Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Reimbursement of discount on policy


Dear Mr. Tan,
I consulted with last year regarding a life insurance policy with critical illness rider. It has been a burden to me every month that I decided to surrender. My agent was very upset saying it tarnished her reputation and she also demanded me to reimbursed her the discount. I have taken several policies for my family members under her. What should I do?

Reply
You are not required to reimburse the discount to her. You have already suffered a loss when you surrender the life assurance policy. If the agent harrass you, you can report her to her insurance company or to the regulator (MAS). You can ask the insurance company to remove her as the servicing agent for your other policies.

4 comments:

zhummmeng said...

You must complain her to MAS and get her sacked for this rampant misconduct otherwise MAS may think the insurance agents are well behaved according to one survey by LIA.
This LIA survey says that consumers think and find the agents are well behaved and competent and they are comfortable with them. Actually this survey was done in the hope that MAS will not drastically overhaul the indsutry..eg. ban commission. Too bad MAS cannot buy this story because anecdotal evidences show that insurance agents are miss-selling, misrepresenting, poorly trained and provide low standard of advice and conflict of interest to commission.
In the case of regular ILPs this is waht happening.All the insurance companies should lower the fees and charges to as low as the ILPs called ID2 and ID7 during Mr Tan KL's time as the CEO of NTUC.(ID7 was the BEST , without charge)
Unfortunately due to indsutry best practice NUTC has gone the way of the crowd with vivolink which was the product at issue with MAS mystery shopping when a FINANCIAL CONSULTANT recommended THIS PRODUCT to a 60s old woman.
Unfortunately, the consumers don't know that the industry, the agents, the companies their interest conflict with the interest of the consumers. It is they on one side and the consumers on the other side. Who wins depends who is cleverer and more knowledgeable. Unfortunately the consumers lose because they don't have the knowledge of insurance and investment like what the agents have from the tikam tikam exams they passed . How a sale is closed depends on how convincing the agents can outsmart the clueless and gullible consumers.There is NO advising but product pitching only. It is a battle in every sales situation.
Beware of the regular ILPs from ANY company...they border on scam.

zhummmeng said...

If the motive of rebate, discounts or gift vouchers from insurance agents is to induce/bribe you to buy an insurance policy it is considered corruption, report the agent to MAS or CPIB. The intention is obvious. Also report the companies that are practising this inducement.
Remember insurance is a long imprisonment and not committment. Early termination is a harsh penalty of loss of your hard earned income.Think thrice and best consult an independent party to help you; example: get FISCA for help. it will save you tons of money. Or attend Mr Tan KL 's talk and learn how to protect yourself against the predatory insurance wolves in financial consultants' clothing.
If you are a SAF or ex SAF personnel buy your insurance from AVIVA Insurance at very low cost to protect yourself and your family adequately.You can buy up to $1 million without medical examination.
Remember that insurance is to insure against risks and NOT for any other thing.

Micky Neo said...

Email to: The insurance company
CC to: MAS

Dear Insurer,

I had just terminated a policy due to financial constraints. Instead of empathizing and reviewing my situation, my agent (name, code) became upset and said this had tarnished her reputation!
As I have other policies still under her, can you assign another agent who is professional, caring and fiduciary to me? She also demanded me to reimburse her the discount (what, when).

Please advise.
Policyowner

(discount is given on goodwill, how can ask for reimbursement? I have no detail understanding on this case and base on the letter, this is just an example of the layout of a letter to Insurer/MAS for advice)

zhummmeng said...

Micky Neo, yes, all policy holders who are miss-sold should write to MAS to let MAS know this is the reason why many insurance salesmen's rice bowls should be broken. MAS must not let these unqualified and unethical rebating agents earn a living at the expense of their customers' hard earned rice bowls.
Commission is evil. Many agents resort to evils becuase of the commission. Weed them out so that the real true blue honest and competent financial advisers don't have to leave the industry because of this uneven playing field.

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