aia - insurance payout accepted and received

here is aia's response to mr lim teck seng's letter of march 24, 2011:

Mar 30, 2011
Insurance payout accepted and received

WE OFFER our sincere condolences again to Mr Lim Teck Seng whose mother died last year ("Insurance payout fell short of expectations"; last Thursday).

We have been communicating with Mr Lim since July last year and had conducted further investigations into his concerns. Mr Lim has since accepted and received the payout from the policy.

Our financial services consultants go through a comprehensive training programme to provide customers recommendations on the most appropriate plans based on information available at the time of purchase.

At the point of sale, customers are provided with a benefit illustration and product summary. Upon receipt of the policy contract, they also have a 14-day free-look period to review their policy and decide whether it is suitable to meet their needs.

We encourage customers to periodically review their policies to ensure that they remain adequately covered as their financial needs and circumstances change.

We thank Mr Lim for his feedback.

Malcolm Koh
Head of Customer Service
AIA

and this is mr lim teck seng's letter:

ST Forum
24 Mar 2011

Insurance payout fell short of expectations

WHEN I started working 16 years ago, I sought advice from an AIA insurance agent to propose a plan for my 50-year-old mother. My aim was simple and conveyed to her plainly: I wanted a payout of $20,000 in the event of my mother's death. She returned with a plan that I serviced diligently until my mother died in July last year.

When I submitted a claim, I was shocked to find out that the payout was only $6,500, and with bonuses, totalled $9,000. I found out that of the $20,000 coverage, $13,500 was a term rider that expired on the 10th year of the policy while the $6,500 that I received was the endowment plan which attracted bonuses.

Together with some yearly payouts, I got a total of $12,000, which I felt was unfair as I had paid about $11,000 in premiums over the past 16 years.

AIA addressed my queries with a caveat emptor (buyer beware) reply and also stated that there was a 14-day free look-in period if I had wanted to make changes or withdraw from the policy.

The fact remains that AIA's agent did not design the plan according to my needs. Rather than offering standard replies, AIA should have taken more effort to address a problem that was not of my making.


Lim Teck Seng