Location/place: Chennai
Name of company/service: HDFC Life Insurance
I approached the HDFC Bank Ltd. which is situated in the ground floor of the same building, for a Tax-Saver FD Deposit for a sum of Rs.40,000/- (Forty Thousand Only). The Assistant Manager (Mrs. Vishnavi) at the bank tried to persuade me to invest in one of their ULIP life insurance product. To which I gently refused, as I had encountered bitter experiences with ULIP products in the past. However, she coaxed me into investing the minimum sum of Rs.15,000/- (Fifteen Thousand Only) without explaining the policy or its provisions and she made the payment through my credit card, which was swiped without my presence in a different branch.
I invested a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Twenty Five Thousand Only) in a 5 year Tax-Saver FD (Enclosure 1) in the same branch on the same date. The Policy (Enclosure 2), was issued on 6-Mar-2012 bearing Policy No.14984621, the same reached me only by 25-Apr-2012. I was out of city on summer vacation and had the opportunity to lay my hands on the policy and go through the policy document only by 18-May-2012, I immediately called the HDFC Life insurance customer care at 1800-209-7777 and informed my wish to cancel the policy as per the “Cancellation in the Free-Look Period” provision specified under their policy. To which the customer care executive said that she was not authorized to take a complaint of this nature and asked me to file a written complaint with their HDFC Life Insurance Office at T.Nagar, Chennai. I sent out a mail on 23-05-2012 to the HDFC Customer care for cancellation of the policy.
On 26-05-2012 I filed a complaint (Enclosure 3) with the HDFC Life Insurance Branch at T.Nagar. In response to my complaint I received a reply (Enclosure 4) from HDFC Life Insurance, that my complaint had been taken on their record and that it was pursued by one Ms. Kausar A. and that she would revert back to me with a resolution within 2 weeks. Pending this inquiry the Asst. Manager (Vishnavi), HDFC Bank, Ascendas, called me up and asked me to withdraw the complaint as the complaint was forwarded by the said Ms. Kausar to her and that she was now conducting the inquiry. I was shocked and surprised as to how a person against whom a complaint lies could be made to preside over her own case. Soon the other persons present at the bank too insisted that I withdraw the complaint. I half-heatedly wrote a letter as she dictated and handed it over to her. I called up the Grievance cell (HDFC) 022-66682666 and spoke to one Anamika and later to one Sharma. They said they would revert back in two weeks time.
The said Ms. Kausar called me on Saturday the 9th June 2012, she instantly identified the HDFC Asst. Manager and told her name even before I named her, making it clear that they were known to each other even before the complaint. I have a strong feeling that the enquiry is an eye wash. The same was confirmed when I call up Ms. Kausar today, who said that the enquiry was over and that I was to continue with the policy. I request you sir/Ma’am to conduct a just and fair inquiry and reimburse my policy money without further delay.
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