Consumer complaints relating to insurance products and services have been on a rising trend during the past three years.
The Consumer Council's statistics showed that there were 338 cases in 2001, 380 in 2002 and 478 in 2003. This year, between January and July, there were 256 cases.
Complaints on insurance are one of the top 10 biggest categories of consumer complaints on the service sector brought to the Council for redress action.
Four complaint cases were highlighted in CHOICE this month with advice and guidance for consumers to safeguard their interests.
Two of the cases clearly reflected the lack of attention policyholders attend to their insurance on a regular basis.
The insurers, on the other hand, were also shown to be lacking in transparency in information disclosure and customer service, and in initiating action without securing the prior consent of the policyholders.
In one case, the insured who duly paid her policy premiums every half yearly on notification of the total amount without any breakdown, later discovered that the amount of the premiums had been raised incessantly during the past few years.
Upon enquiry with the insurer, she was told that additional insurance cover was made to her policy every year - apparently without the consent of the insured.
In another case, the insured was required to pay his premiums annually. The complainant later orally informed the insurer of his change of job and correspondence address. Since then, he had not received any notification from the insurer for payment and conveniently forgot the matter.
Two years later, he was informed by phone that all the mail to him had been returned undelivered as there was no written record of his change of address, and that the company had taken the step to borrow with interest from the policy in order to pay the premiums and continue the policy.
Misconduct of agents would be subject to disciplinary action. However, consumers are urged to carefully consider their ability to keep up with the long-term financial commitment of an insurance policy.
They should thoroughly understand the details of the scope of the insurance coverage, the different types of investment included, the role of an agent vis-a-vis a broker, and the availability of the "cooling-off" period, etc.
Also, complaints concerning insurance claims with amounts less than HK$600,000 should be lodged with the Insurance Claims Complaints Bureau (ICCB), and against agent conduct to Insurance Agents Registration Board (IARB).
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