What tricks did you take when buying insurance?
Insurance Routine Survey
Motivation for investigation
"Only 9.9 yuan, 150 yuan a day for the new crown quarantine" "1,000 yuan subsidy for a day of isolation, and thousands of yuan to lie down" "only the price of a bottle of water, just in case buy peace of mind"... Recently, a number of insurance companies have launched The "New Crown Isolation Insurance" has aroused social concern.
Many consumers have complained that after buying this insurance, there are many problems such as being isolated but unable to settle claims, and that the claim proof materials are too strict and cannot be provided.
Recently, the Property and Casualty Insurance Department of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Emergency Notice on Regulating the Operation of the "Segregated" Allowance Insurance Business, and put forward normative requirements for the false propaganda of "Segregated Insurance" and the difficulty in settlement of claims.
In order to fully understand the various routines in the insurance field and provide consumers with reference and precautions when applying for insurance, a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" conducted an in-depth investigation and interview.
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Our intern Wang Yitian
I bought "New Crown Isolation Insurance", and when I requested a claim, I was told that no compensation would be paid for "it has been identified as a medium and high risk area"; I bought a dividend-type wealth management insurance, 10 years later, I found that the money I got was not as good as the premium I paid High; "free" insurance online, I didn't expect to be automatically deducted 300 yuan from the second month...
A reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" recently investigated and found that there are many insurance routines, and word games are more common in insurance sales. Many consumers suffer from problems such as exaggerated publicity, inducement to apply for insurance, and difficulty in claim settlement.
In this regard, the experts interviewed reminded that when applying for insurance, you should consider the risks and protection needs you are facing, and you should not blindly buy products that do not meet your risk protection needs just by looking at the product name and chasing hot spots.
Consumers have the right to know the insurance products they purchase, and should clearly know the specific content, price, payment method, etc. of the service.
If an insurance company fails to fulfill its obligation of truthful disclosure, induce consumers to buy, automatically renew, etc., consumers can file a complaint with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, or resolve it through litigation.
Get automatic deduction for free
Online sales are tricky
The insurance is free to receive, is this kind of benefit reliable?
The reporter checked multiple third-party complaint platforms and saw that many consumers complained that some insurances used gimmicks such as "1 yuan for the first month" and "free collection" to induce consumers to buy, and they were automatically deducted in the second month. The elderly in the family accidentally clicked on the link "successful strokes" when using their mobile phones.
On the Heimao Complaint Platform, there will be over 800 complaints related to "1 Yuan Bao" in 2021 alone.
Among them, there is an insurance called "XX Insurance Plus" which is frantically "spit out" by consumers.
The complainants generally reported that they received a text message on their mobile phones for no reason, which read: "Dear customer, your XX Insurance Plus accident insurance product plan has been successfully received." The policy number, customer service hotline and other words were attached to the back.
But in fact, I have never applied for this insurance online or offline.
A number of complainants recalled to reporters that when they browsed on other online platforms, they filled in their identity information because of a certain activity, and then received this SMS.
One complainant said that when she was playing games with her child on an app, an interactive message popped up, prompting her that she had won 188 yuan in phone bills and asked to fill in her personal identification information before she could get it.
After she filled out her personal information, the phone bill did not arrive, but the text message that the insurance was successful came.
Since then, the insurance company has continued to harass customers through phone calls and text messages, demanding better personal information and promoting other types of insurance.
In addition, the number of complaints about automatic insurance deductions also ranks in the top three among insurance complaints.
On multiple complaint platforms, consumers reported that some online insurance companies induce consumers to click through through pop-up windows, links, etc., and continue to automatically deduct and renew their insurance without relevant notification. Some consumers even report that they have been deducted for many years. , but never received the relevant deduction notice.
Mr. Ma from Qingdao, Shandong, in May 2020, insured an old-age insurance online and chose to pay a monthly fee of 70 yuan.
Later, I chose to surrender the insurance because I was dissatisfied with the service of the insurance company, but after tossing for more than a year, the surrender was not successful. "The online application for surrender, the system is not saying that it needs to be upgraded or is being maintained. Communicating with the customer service many times has no effect, but every time The monthly deduction is unstoppable.”
Offline routines are hard to guard against
Induction methods are full of tricks
Not only online, but offline handling of insurance business is also full of routines.
On a third-party complaint platform, there were more than 120,000 complaints about insurance business, mainly involving false advertising of insurance products, difficulties in determining insurance claims, long payment cycles, and bundled sales of products.
Mr. Hu from Taiyuan, Shanxi was "pit" by an insurance salesman.
By chance, Mr. Hu met an insurance salesman, and the other party introduced him to a "lifetime million medical insurance". Both can be reimbursed, and the maximum claim limit is 3 million yuan, but the purchase of this insurance must be bundled with the purchase of two wealth management products.
After thinking about it again and again, Mr. Hu bought this medical insurance for his parents and newborn child.
But after buying two wealth management products, Mr. Hu discovered that the medical insurance is not "15-year insurance for 99 years" at all, but one-year insurance for one year.
"At that time, the insurance salesman made a lot of talk, and I didn't read the insurance terms carefully." Mr. Hu said regretfully. He angrily found the person in charge of the insurance company's Shanxi branch, but the other party admitted that some salesmen exaggerated for the sake of performance. In the case of insurance, training will be strengthened in the future.
Coincidentally.
Mr. Bao from Xuhui District, Shanghai recently received a "Notice of Termination" from an insurance company, and learned that the "anti-cancer health insurance" he had purchased from the insurance company for 25 years had been terminated.
After contacting customer service, I was told that this insurance policy is only valid for 5 years, and now the product has been discontinued.
Mr. Bao turned out his insurance policy that took effect on November 22, 1996, and it did say "The policy is valid for 5 years".
"But if it's a 5-year insurance, why have I been deducted for 25 consecutive years?" Mr. Bao was puzzled.
"The staff of the insurance company explained that this is a short-term insurance. In order to take care of old customers, the company will automatically renew the insurance if the customer does not propose to renew the insurance." Mr. Bao said, but the insurance company has not renewed the insurance in the past 25 years. Any salesman will inform him of this.
After some negotiation, the insurance company decided to continue to renew the insurance for Mr. Bao.
It is understood that the routines in insurance are far more than these. There are many routines such as strange insurance, random suspension of sales, value-added services and verbal commitments, which have become "pits" in front of policyholders.
Be alert to avoid risks
Preserving evidence to facilitate claims
There are many insurance routines, what should the insured do to avoid risks?
Zhang Junyan, an associate professor at the School of Finance of Renmin University of China, believes that the premise of avoiding insurance routines is to recognize whether insurance sales are legal or not.
He explained that insurance sales itself, as a normal business behavior, has its normative requirements.
The Insurance Law, the regulations on the management of insurance companies, and the regulations on basic services for personal insurance business all clarify that insurance companies, insurance agents and their practitioners must comply with laws and regulations when engaging in insurance business.
In the process of purchasing insurance, if there is induced purchase, compulsory purchase, etc., it is a violation of regulations, and the regulatory agency will impose corresponding penalties.
Regarding the automatic renewal of insurance, Zhang Junyan analyzed that whether the automatic renewal is illegal depends on the contract, and the option is usually determined by the policyholder when signing the contract.
Automatic renewal of fees helps prevent payment interruptions, but from the perspective of improving service quality, insurance companies should provide timely reminders to policyholders in the form of text messages during the renewal process.
Jia Runyi, a lawyer from Shanghai Bangxinyang Zhongjian Zhonghui Law Firm, told reporters that consumers have the right to know the insurance products they purchase, and should clearly know the specific content, price, payment method, etc. of the service.
If an insurance company fails to fulfill its obligation of truthful disclosure, induce consumers to buy, automatically renew, etc., consumers can file a complaint with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, or resolve it through litigation.
"Beware of the trap of 'the first month x yuan'. Many insurance companies use the 'first month x yuan' as a gimmick, and require automatic renewal of fees at the same time as signing the contract, but it is marked in very small words that the insurance company will deduct the second month and later. A large amount of insurance premiums. Therefore, before signing the contract, be sure to read the terms of the contract carefully and carefully check the precautions." Jia Runyi reminded.
Zhang Junyan also reminded policyholders to consider the risks and protection needs they face when applying for insurance.
For example, most of the "epidemic isolation insurance" in the market is only for the insured who are in centralized isolation or centralized medical observation, and the corresponding allowance is paid according to the contract. Don't see the name and think that all losses during the epidemic isolation period after insured can be covered. get paid.
In addition, Zhang Junyan pointed out that it is equally important to truthfully fill in the risk notification items in the insurance application documents when applying for insurance, which can avoid the contract being terminated and the inability to obtain insurance compensation due to violation of the notification obligation in the future.
Jia Runyi said, do not arbitrarily listen to the "two-year indefensible clause" of the salesperson. If you conceal the true situation when filling out the insurance policy, especially important information related to insurance claims, such as the physical health of critical illness insurance, may lead to the insurance policy. Can't claim.
"After purchasing insurance, the insured should keep various documents and materials, so as to provide the corresponding materials according to the contract requirements when making a claim. Also be careful not to miss the reporting time and the time for making a claim. The insurance law requires the insured and the insured to know Notify the insurer in a timely manner after an insured accident occurs. If the clause stipulates a specific reporting time, such as 48 hours or 7 days, the insured must notify the insurance company within the agreed time limit.” Zhang Junyan said.