Protecting consumers is at the heart of the Treating Customers Fairly Act (TCF), consumers can also place complaints with the Ombudsman. Here are some of the biggest life insurance complaints that consumers have placed.
What treating customers fairly is about?
As a customer, you have rights. The goal of TCF is to make sure that your rights are protected and that you walk away with a fair deal. It was implemented in January 2014 due to the high number of people that were entering the market for the first time who had little to no understanding of the financial market.
TCF holds financial service providers accountable by ensuring that they sell you a product that is suitable for your financial circumstance and one that will benefit you. It also prevents unfair treatment from a financial provider where you could be manipulated into a product or service by a financial provider who is more knowledgeable about the product.
Poor service
Lack of communication, debiting on the wrong date, debiting twice in one month and the long process of cancelling insurance policies are some of the complaints that are placed by consumers. While insurers do their best to ensure an efficient service for clients, they are still plagued by complaints of poor service now and again due to the misunderstanding of how the processes works behind the scenes. While all insurers try to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, there are process in place to make sure that everything is checked which may take time.
Refusal to pay claims
The claims process is one that tends to land insurers in trouble, but in most cases, it is usually over the confusion that leaves many beneficiaries disappointed with the service. In some cases, confusion arises over the relations of the claimants to the main member of the policy. However, most of these cases are resolved.
Lack of compensation
In some cases, consumers can be compensated. However, a common misconception that comes from complainants is that they expect the amount of compensation to equal the policy in question. The ombudsman usually liaises with the insurance company in question to compensate the consumer but the amount they may be compensated with may not always be the same amount as the policy that is in question.
