While some customers take the insurance companies for a ride by inflating claims, they, too, can be cheated by fraudulent practitioners who may sell them fake policies. If you are not sufficiently careful while buying your insurance, you could easily be led up the garden path by agents out to make a quick buck by selling you policies which may appear to be genuine, but will eventually turn out to be fake. Such practices are rampant in the insurance sector. Below we list some common ways to avoid buying fake policies.
Buy your insurance policy only from verified sources
Fraudsters have become very smart and the policy documents they peddle on the face of it appear to be so genuine that it would no even around your suspicion, but will later turn out to be fake. That is why you should stick to verified sources or agents or buy your car insurance online by visiting the insurance company’s website, or an aggregator’s website.
Pay online or through cheque only
If you have decided to buy your policy offline, ensure that you make the payment only through cheque or DD, and ensure that it is in favor of the insurance company and not in the name of some agent or middleman.
Always verify the genuineness of your policy with the company
Most genuine insurance companies will give you a policy verification link on the websites. Use it to cross check the genuineness of your policy. You could also contact the customer care service of the insurance company to confirm the policy details. Have the customer care executive confirm you the details of the policy. You may visit to the insurance company’s office to confirm the existence of the policy to remove all suspicion.
Use QR Code on the policy to verify genuineness
If you are technically sound, you would notice the QR code printed on the policy document. Scan it to verify that the policy is not fake. The IRDA has made it mandatory for insurance companies to print a QR code on the policy document to protect the interests of both the company and the policyholder.
Online insurance is becoming a popular method for buying your car insurance, and if you use this method, wait for the hard copy of the policy document to reach you by post, and then either verify it by scanning the QR code, calling up the customer care department of the insurance company or by visiting the company office. Use the online services of Bharti AXA to stay totally safe. The added advantage is that you will have a lot of choice when it comes to purchasing add-ons for your car insurance policy. Bharti AXA also has a massive network of cashless repair garages which you could take advantage of to smoothen things out in ever you get involved in an accident.
