ISLAMABAD: The Secu­rities and Exchange Comm­ission of Pakistan (SECP) on Friday urged insurance policyholders not to rely on verbal promises made by insurance agents but to crosscheck the details stated in the policy documents.

Responding to a high number of complaints received against insurance policy agents, the corporate sector regulator in a statement has asked policyholders to register complaints at all relevant forums against insurance agents involved in making false promises. In a statement, the SECP mentioned the complaint resolution forums available to the policyholders including its Service Desk Management System (SDMS) for addressing grievances of general public including insurance policyholders against the corporate sector.

The SECP has received 3,565 complaints through SDMS between 2018 and 2020, against the insurance agents and relief to the tune of around Rs591 million has been provided to policyholders by the commission, according to the statement.

The other forums include the Federal Insurance Ombu­dsman (FIO), Small Dispute Resolution Committees in Lahore, Islamabad, and Karachi, Insurance Tribunal and Prime Minister’s Citizen Portal. Policyholders may approach any of the above forums for resolution of their complaints, if any, against insurance companies, the regulator said.

The SECP asked insurance policyholders to carefully read all the contents of documents presented before them by an insurance agent before signing and ensure that they understand the terms and conditions of the product being offered.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2021