With covid-19 pandemic, the demand for insurance policies has gone up substantially. So has the incidence of insurance fraud.
IRDAI has issued a public notice in which it has cautioned policyholders not to fall prey to fraudulent callers and fraudsters posing as insurance agents and employees of government agencies like RBI, IRDAI to sell insurance policies.
In fact, the insurance regulator has asked general public to deal only with authorized insurance agents and intermediaries. While the list of insurance intermediaries like brokers and corporate agents is available on IRDAI website, IRDAI has asked the general public to check the authenticity of insurance agents by visiting website of insurance companies they represent.
IRDAI said that these callers offer unrealistic benefits in the existing life insurance policies including in lapsed policies of policyholders such as unclaimed bonus, agency commission and refund of investment amount. Policyholders are then asked to complete certain formalities to receive money. These callers also ask policyholders to deposit some money, buy new policies to avail gifts, promotional offers, interest free loans, etc.
IRDAI said, “It has come to the knowledge of the IRDAI that the general public / policyholders have been receiving spurious calls from un-identified and unscrupulous individuals posing to be the officials or representatives of IRDAI with fictitious and fraudulent offers which are beyond the scope of insurance policies. They are using names like as insurance transaction department, RBI or any other name of existing government agencies and misleading the public about their authenticity.”
Further, the insurance regulator said, “All policyholders and members of public are hereby cautioned not to fall prey to such offers. They are urged to remain alert against such frauds or scams perpetrated by miscreants. It is always advisable to verify the identity of the caller and the genuineness of the offer with the concerned insurance companies and registered intermediaries. The public should directly deal with insurance companies or registered intermediaries / insurance agents while purchasing a policy or having any financial dealing with the insurance companies for verification.”