Tips to Avoid the Insurance Related Frauds and Scams
Insurance fraud is a huge matter of concern across the country. Many people have fallen prey to fraudulent insurance agents over the years. The fraudsters continuously strive to bring unpredictable and innovative ideas to make money out of the customer’s lack of knowledge. Here is why policyholders are always suggested to be on alert and follow some practices to be safe and secure.
Here’s a list of some of them:
a) Verify the agent before entertaining
As per the IRDA rules, every agent working for an insurance company needs to go through strict training and must acquire identification proof as well. It is the responsibility of every customer to ask for ID proof and verify the same with the customer support service of the insurance providing firm. Following this safety measure can safeguard you from becoming a victim of fraudulent tactics.
b) Never make the payment in the cash
No authorized agent will demand the customer for cash. Additionally, to verify that the cheque you are writing is for the correct account, you can anytime call the client support and affirm the details you need to fill in the cheque. The method will guarantee that you don't accidentally hand over a cheque to a person who can deposit the money in a different account and cheats you.
c) Try not to unveil details related to your plan
Disclosing the information about your policy to an outsider can attract fraudulent insurance groups. The fraudsters can approach you pretending as different identities, such as an agent of the insurance firm to collect the details of your plan or may claim to call you through the customer support of an insurance firm. Thus, you need to be alert to avoid these sort of threats.
d) Go for the insurance plans available online
Noticing the fraudulent cases in the insurance sector, if you want to avoid health insurance frauds altogether, by not entertaining any agent and so on, you can opt for buying an insurance policy online. The online process won’t just eliminate the agent, but also offer you a fast and safe transaction facility. All you need to ensure is to make an online payment to the insurer suggested site only, duly pursue the transaction steps, and never share your payment card information with anybody.
e) Report the loss of a plan related document at once
The safety of your insurance records is of utmost importance. If you lose them, the fraudsters may access them and ask for a claim on behalf of yourself. Due to this, it is also advised to put them in the locker of a bank and keep their copies with you as well. Also, the policyholder’s are suggested to promptly notify the insurance fraud examiner in case of loss of their documents. Sometimes, the customers also need to register an FIR, put an ad in the newspaper, and furthermore give the insurer a repayment bond on stamp paper.
f) Filling your policy documents yourself
In case, you are going through the offline method of buying the insurance policy, you should fill all the scheme-related documents on your own to avoid health insurance fraud cases. Go for a thorough read and comprehend for the related terms and conditions, incorporation, exclusions, and so on. In addition to these, also check thoroughly for spelling mistakes, as they can create a factual misrepresentation of details. Never sign the policy-related documents before confirming these elements.
g) Give ID proofs to trusted personnel only
The fraudulent agents may misuse your ID proofs. You ought to guarantee that you give your ID proofs to the authorized and reliable agencies only, to avoid health insurance frauds from occurring.
h) Be careful while making transactions from public networks
Digitally driven health insurance fraud events are increasing rapidly. Wi-Fi systems can be utilized by tricksters to steal or track your private data. Therefore, you need to be watchful while making transactions using these systems or accessing individual data. Also, ensure to log out of every public computer post using them, and try to use encrypted networks for making the payments online.
Insurance frauds can be avoided easily with a bit more alertness. To avoid insurance-related cheating, it is advised to follow these tips at every stage of getting a policy.
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