1 5 - D A Y F R E E L O O K P E R I O D
You can cancel the policy within 15 days of receiving the policy document
This is a very important right and insurance buyers should use it to their advantage.If you are not happy with the insurance policy you have bought,you can cancel it within 15 days and get your entire money back.The insurance company can only deduct the expenses incurred on medical tests,stamp duty and the cover for 15 days.
Unfortunately,not many buyers are able to use this window of opportunity.Barely 9% of the respondents in the NCAER survey were aware of this rule,even though mis-selling accounts for almost 25% of the complaints reaching the Irda.If a buyer is alert and goes through the policy document carefully,he would spot any discrepancy.
To avoid this,unscrupulous agents deliberately delay the delivery of the policy document.However,it has been clarified in several orders that the 15-day freelook period starts not from the time that the insurance policy is issued,but from the time that the policy document reaches the buyer (see box).
Of course,agents have enough dirty tricks up their sleeves.Mumbai-based Hetal Nagda agreed to invest in an endowment plan because she was promised a bonus policy along with it.When the policy document reached her,there was no mention of the bonus policy.She called up the broker,who reassured her that the bonus plan would reach her in two weeks.It never didit was just a ploy to get past the 15-day freelook period.When I called him again,he rudely said that I could cancel the policy if I didnt trust him, says Nagda.
Used wisely,the freelook period is a shield against misselling.A copy of the proposal form comes with the policy document, says Pankaaj Maalde,head of fianncial planning,ApnaPaisa.com.Go through both the documents with a finetoothed comb.Cancel the policy if you spot a discrepancy.Dont let the agent sweet-talk you into forgoing this right.
Article is published Economic Times Wealth on 14th May'2012
http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=28&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=ETM&mydateHid=14-05-2012&pubname=&edname=&publabel=ET
You can cancel the policy within 15 days of receiving the policy document
This is a very important right and insurance buyers should use it to their advantage.If you are not happy with the insurance policy you have bought,you can cancel it within 15 days and get your entire money back.The insurance company can only deduct the expenses incurred on medical tests,stamp duty and the cover for 15 days.
Unfortunately,not many buyers are able to use this window of opportunity.Barely 9% of the respondents in the NCAER survey were aware of this rule,even though mis-selling accounts for almost 25% of the complaints reaching the Irda.If a buyer is alert and goes through the policy document carefully,he would spot any discrepancy.
To avoid this,unscrupulous agents deliberately delay the delivery of the policy document.However,it has been clarified in several orders that the 15-day freelook period starts not from the time that the insurance policy is issued,but from the time that the policy document reaches the buyer (see box).
Of course,agents have enough dirty tricks up their sleeves.Mumbai-based Hetal Nagda agreed to invest in an endowment plan because she was promised a bonus policy along with it.When the policy document reached her,there was no mention of the bonus policy.She called up the broker,who reassured her that the bonus plan would reach her in two weeks.It never didit was just a ploy to get past the 15-day freelook period.When I called him again,he rudely said that I could cancel the policy if I didnt trust him, says Nagda.
Used wisely,the freelook period is a shield against misselling.A copy of the proposal form comes with the policy document, says Pankaaj Maalde,head of fianncial planning,ApnaPaisa.com.Go through both the documents with a finetoothed comb.Cancel the policy if you spot a discrepancy.Dont let the agent sweet-talk you into forgoing this right.
Article is published Economic Times Wealth on 14th May'2012
http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=28&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=ETM&mydateHid=14-05-2012&pubname=&edname=&publabel=ET
