| Address: | South 24 Parganas, West Bengal |
This is in continuation of my earlier post on 17-Feb-10 in which I have explained how AVIVA Life Insurance Company had fooled me and gulped in my hard earned money. I had a Life Long Insurance Plan which i surrendered after around 4 years( after 3 years lock-in). I have given 45000 Rupees but recieved only 25000 something after surrendering. The surrender charge of this sort of abnormal and customer-cheating in nature is nowhere mentioned in the policy document. I will explain these facts once again but before that let me tell you what had happened after I have been cheated by AVIVA.
I approached IRDA. What i found is more concerning is that despite of notifying the above incident to IRDA, I have received no response. I have emailed my complain to IRDA but i have got no reply. I have intimated SEBI. I have receive a letter from SEBI that it is not under their purview to look into this problem and they will forward the issue to IRDA. Meanwhile i continue receiving letters from AVIVA after certian intervals that they are looking into my problem. But the matter of fact is i have lost more than 20000 Rupees which i am yet to get back.
If i think of legal actions, it will be uphill task to take on with these companies which i assume have clear backing of so called regulatory bodies (otherwise I would have received a reply as a minimum courtesy).
So where do we stand as deprived and cheated Customers & what can we do?
To start with, let us do the following:-
1. Vigorous campaign against AVIVA stating the fact.Write chain mails, spread the facts in your institution, office, family so that no one gets cheated like me in future.
2. Reject / Boycot all the products of AVIVA.Kick their agents out wherever you see them.
3. Flood IRDA with complaints... if that can make them move and take actions against AVIVA.
Now read my story which i have posted earlier
I have had a ULIP with AVIVA. I had continued it for 46 months and paid a premium of Rs 45000 (Monthly Premium of Rs 1000) . The Policy had a lock-in period of 36 months. Now I have decided to surrender the Policy because of it’s poor performance & excessive fund management charges (a total of around Rs 100 pm which is almost 10% of my monthly premium).
The charges AVIVA deducting from my account were :
• 5 % per annum of Initial Unit value (Units purchased from my first two year’s premiums * NAV)
• 1 % per annum of total fund value (Total units * NAV)
• Rs 75 per month inflated with 5 % pa as Policy administration charges
While surrendering, I came to know that the surrender charge applicable is nearly Rs 20,000 and my surrender value is nearly Rs 25,000.
These people are telling about some bizarre formula which was no-where written in the Policy Document.
The formula is :-
{1-1/(1.05)^n} x Initial Unit value
Where,
n = 30-no of years the Policy is in Place = 30-4 = 26
Initial Unit value = Value o[censored]nits purchased from my first two year’s premiums
I have enclosed the Policy Terms and Conditions for your reference. Please refer Page 5, Article 15.2 (Full Surrender), where it is written that ‘ The surrender value is equal to the surrender value of Initial Units, which is equal to the value of all initial units less an Early Redemption Charge determined at the time of surrender, and the value of all Accumulation Units in respect to Regular Premiums’
I have repeatedly requested their Customer Service as well their Saltlake, Kolkata Branch Office for a fair deal but my request fall on deaf ears.
Now, how come a common man would come to know that this surrender charge will be Rs 20,000 after reading the above? I have been told during taking the Policy that I will get a reasonable return on my investment after three years. I have been totally trapped, cheated and misled by AVIVA as well as Bajaj Capital, the broker.
I have received a surrender value of around 25,000 Rupees.
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Ajay