Saturday, September 4, 2010

Do not sign a form without understanding

Hi Mr. Tan,
I am a 24 year old fresh graduate who has just started working. Recently, I was looking around for a whole life insurance (without an investment linked policy attached to it) and approached a company to ask for a quotation. I asked repeatedly for the proposal document to be sent to me before deciding to sign anything, but the agent had asked me to sign the application first. 

I wish to ask if it is a norm in the industry to sign any insurance document on the spot, or is it unreasonable for me to request for the full document before signing anything?


REPLY
You should not sign any document without knowing what it is. There is no such thing as a "norm" to sign a legally binding document blindly. You should consider lodging a complaint against the agent for unethical conduct. Let me know if you wish to take this step. I will help you to write the complaint.

If you are buying an life insurance policy, you should ask for the benefit illustration. You should read my FAQ on "benefit illustration" to get the key points to look out for - i.e. the distribution cost and the effect of deduction.

Go to www.tankinlian.com/ask.aspx and search for "benefit illustration".