Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sale of insurance over the telephone

Hi Mr. Tan,
A couple of days ago, my elderly mother received a call from AA (automobile association) promoting some personal accident insurance. I always believed that consumers should only get insurance that fits our requirements and needs, but the lady on the phone was just trying very hard to sell the insurance. I feel that it is not the right thing to do because:

1) My mom does already have a personal accident insurance when she did not really needed it.

2) The marketing person was highlighting the benefits, but did not talk about the fine prints
3) Consumer are not able to read the terms and condition for insurance sales over the telephone.

My mom has been paying for an insurance bought from a marketeer over the telephone and was charged monthly on her credit card. This is misleading and not fair to consumers who are not street-wise. Can anything be done to protect or educate the general public?


REPLY
I find it bad for insurance to be sold over the telephone. I am also against marketeers calling me on my mobile phone as they are intruding on my privacy and interrupting what I was doing. I will find some way to bring this matter up for public attention. I am quite angry that our government leaders and MPs do not seem to care about these types of issues.