Thursday, January 25, 2018

A grateful policyholder

Several years ago, a policyholder sought my advice. She was not educated in English. An insurance agent sold to her a life insurance policy as an investment. She paid $50,000 as the premium.

On the second year, she received a notice to pay another $50,000. He asked the agent why she had to make this further payment. The agent told her to disregard the notice.

Later, she learned that the policy had no value. All the invested sum of $50,000 was forfeited by the insurance company.

She did not realize that she had bought a policy that required an annual premium of $50,000 to be paid. As she did not pay the second premium, the policy lapsed.

She complained to the insurance company about the mis-selling. The insurance company interviewed the agent and told the policyholder that she had signed a fact finding statment that she was aware of what she had bought. They rejected her claim.

The policyholder sought my help.

I helped her to write a formal letter of complaint to the insurance company. A few months later, the policyholder told me that she received back her $50,000 from the insurance company. I did not know what happened to the agent.

As a grateful appreciation, the policyholder donated $2,000 to the Financial Services Consumer Association.

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