Don't let "money lost and disease suffered"

(Baonghean) - Taking out life insurance to save money is a completely legitimate need. However, to avoid "losing money and getting sick", buyers need to carefully research insurance companies, contract regulations, insurance laws and not trust too much in the "golden" words of consultants. The story of Ms. PTT in DT commune, D district is a cautionary lesson for many people...

In September 2015, Mrs. PTT, a poor farmer in DT commune, D district, sent a petition to Nghe An Newspaper with the following content: We are farmers, completely ignorant of life insurance. Hearing the consultant persuade us to buy insurance, my husband (Mr. VTH) asked: "I am being treated at the Provincial General Hospital, can I participate?" The consultant replied: "You should participate in insurance. If you live for a year or a day, the insurance will be effective" so my husband agreed to buy insurance from the company.

On April 17, 2013, the consultant signed a contract and collected a fee of 5.8 million VND. On April 17, 2014, another employee came to my house to collect the second year's fee (also 5.8 million VND) and announced: "Now you can rest assured. Your insurance is in effect...". The third time, on April 17, 2015, the second consultant came to collect the money, my husband and I continued to pay 5.8 million VND. A few days later, my husband became ill and on May 5, 2015, he passed away. We informed the consultant and she went downstairs to get all the documents for "the insurance company to process the payment".

On August 7, 2015, the consultant came to my house to inform me: “The application has been completed. The amount of money my family will receive is 100,000,000 VND. In a few days, the company will present it at the commune hall on the occasion of a customer conference.” However, a few days later, my family received a letter from the insurance company stating that my husband’s insurance application had not been processed, and the premium had not been refunded because he had been dishonest and had not declared his previous medical condition in the contract signed between the two parties…”.

Illustration: Huu Tuan.

Returning to DT commune, I met Mrs. PTT at the market and she recounted what had happened to her family as written in the application. Asked about the relevant documents to verify the incident, Mrs. PTT said that Mr. VTH had passed away, the consultants had taken them "for insurance payment procedures" and had not returned them yet. "The consultants said whatever they said, we don't understand anything about insurance. They said to pay everything for the procedures, so we just gave it all..." - then she made an appointment: "Let me ask again and then send it to the newspaper...".

In early October 2015, Mrs. PTT reported: “At the end of September, the insurance company came to the house…” and we returned to her house, Mrs. T said: “The Deputy Director of the insurance company and the consultant came to burn incense for my husband. They talked a lot but in the end, they confirmed that they would not pay any amount because my family violated the regulations. I asked the consultant to return the file, she replied “the person is dead so the file is also canceled”…”.

The company that made the insurance contract for Mr. VTH is headquartered in Vinh City. The company's representative said that they also received Ms. PTT's application and sent someone to verify it. As a result, the request for insurance payment for Ms. PTT's husband was not accepted. "We base it on the signed contract. Accordingly, Mr. VTH did not fill in the information about his illness before participating in the insurance while he was sick. According to the regulations specifically stated in the contract, Mr. VTH has violated the regulations. The insurance company will not pay the insurance, nor will it refund the amount Mr. VTH has participated in the insurance."

What if the consultant gave inaccurate information? “According to the principle, if the consultant does not give correct advice to the insured. When the company verifies that it is correct, the rights of the insured will still be guaranteed. However, in this case, it is impossible to determine the consultant's fault. We have also verified”… When asked to provide documents and verification information, the representative showed the minutes of the meeting with Ms. PTT and said: “According to the principle, all information and documents are managed by the parent company. To provide information and documents to the press, we must specifically report to the parent company. The parent company will assign the legal department to review and advise, and only if approved will the member company be allowed to provide them. I can show you the minutes, but no copies are allowed…” The insurance company's minutes of meeting with Ms. PTT have her signature. There, the consultant denied giving Mr. VTH incorrect advice. Although she did not request insurance payment, Ms. PTT still "accused" the consultant of being unethical and requested disciplinary action.

As for this record, it is not possible to determine whether the consultant was at fault or not. The insurance company representative said that it is possible that the consultant was chasing profits and gave incorrect advice. However, the insured must provide evidence! “When an insured violates the regulations and loses benefits, out of frustration, they can blame this person or that person. If we handle the consultant because of that, it is not right. In this case, we follow the signed contract. Obviously, if the advice is not complete, the insured must read the contract and fill in all the information in it…” - the representative affirmed. Why did the consultant say “if the person dies, the contract will be canceled” to Ms. PTT? “If Ms. PTT “asks for the file back”, she will write a request. We can make a copy and return it. However, she did not request it in the request. As for the press, we need permission from the parent company…!”.

We told Mrs. PTT everything we learned from the insurance company representative. She was very sad, but we honestly didn't know how to answer her properly. What could we do when she had no evidence in hand; the insurance company coldly "judged the case" and the "golden" words of the consultant when inviting Mr. VTH to sign the insurance contract were "gone with the wind"...

The story of Mrs. PTT’s family is a lesson for those who intend to participate in insurance. Please carefully study the background of the insurance company, the regulations in the contract, the Insurance Law... and do not trust the words of the consultant too much. Because if you are not careful, you will lose money and also get into trouble.

Article and photos:Ha Giang