A large proportion of Indian customers still depend on insurance agents to fill up their proposal forms when buying a policy, according to a survey by National Council of Applied Economic Research commissioned by the IRDAI.
The survey found that in India's western region, more than 80% of respondents reported relying on agents to complete the proposals, reported Moneycontrol.
Customers are generally advised to fill up the proposal form themselves so that there is no discrepancy in data. In case of incorrect information being filled in the form, there is a chance of a claim getting rejected. Often, however, agents fill out the form and get the customers to sign in the designated boxes on the form.
When deciding to buy a policy, nearly two-thirds of rural and 70% of urban households prefer to turn to insurance agents. “This could be one of the reasons for the households preferring to purchase policies from agents as they get help in filling the proposal and other paper work,” said the survey report.
Across India, nearly half of the households have taken a life insurance policy on the advice of insurance agents. Another one-third of the households made the decision on their own.