Every day I get mails, calls …or friends who say ‘a friend got this offer…’

Most of the deals on offer look and feel like a rip off. Sometimes a complete rip off.

Let us look at some of them!

‘Sir you know ULIPs are bad and expensive, so our company has decided to concentrate only on the real traditional life insurance’

So, Sir for a premium of Rs. 45,000 you can get a life insurance of Rs. 900,000″….

Client: But I do not wish to pay a premium for 30 years…

Salesman: Sir, this is only for 15 years.

Client: Ha, that is good…I am now 32..I can afford to pay for 10 years..Thank you.

Story No. 2

Sir you have a housing loan of Rs. 350,000 at 12.25% p.a. – and a floating rate. We will convert this to a fixed loan for Rs. 350,000 at Rs. 10.85% p.a. – for this you need to buy a Unit Linked Insurance Plan from us at a premium of Rs. 35,000 p.a. payable annually for a min period.

Should I take the offer?

Answer: I am really amused!

Query: What should I say?

JUST STOP GETTING RIPPED OFF!!

can i get some more examples from people who have said No or people who have been ripped off? About 5000 readers will benefit..and get conned less!

  1. Y’day I got call from a gentleman from **** bank offering a brand new investment plan in which the money get doubled in 7 years.

    Immediately he corrected himself saying, not just double, it’s more than double. In fact, if I pay 50,000 now, I will get 1,28,000 after 7 years.

    I felt like.. WOW.. and asked him what is the product he is really selling. He tried acting he didn’t understand my question. After a series of questions, he gave up and told me an answer – It’s an INSURANCE plan.

    😐

  2. one mF guy once he told me .. invest an amount for 10 yrs and get 1 crore… I told that guy why dont u invest and get one crore… and sent him away…

    the mf plan was then merged with some other scheme and has performed poorly right from starting..

  3. ULIP, Endowment plans in all forms & formats. Call it moneyback, single premium, retirement, children policy, blah blah. They are all rip off! Learned about endowment v hard way.

  4. Here is a story of a friend whose father got ripped off by an investment company, which made him invest in around 190 mutual fund schemes and through 190 different folio numbers!!

    it is on the safalniveshak website…

    The sad part is that when I called that company posing as a customer, he also offered to make my life easier and grow my wealth by helping me do what they did to my friend’s father.

    The sadder part is that the father is now dead, and the friend is physically challenged!

  5. 1) ULIP with JUST 0.5% expense charges. (plus other usual high commission charges etc). Oh i missed a small thing, it is 0.5% per MONTH.

    2) pay 50k/year for 15 years. It will pay FIXED 25K/year from 7th year till the end of life of ones child (ie say for next 80years). Looks attractive at one shot, till you do calculations with returns,inflation etc, complete ripoff.

    3) Most of people in my company OPTIN to put in a banks’ Super annuation plan, similar to pension/annuity plan, ripoff. Hum Hain Na .

    Well i didnt take any of this, all Thanks goes to You Sir.

  6. Yesterday one of my colleague got a call saying that if you remove your agents name from your Reliance Life insurance policy you will receive Rs.90,000 (Total premium paid is of Rs. 1,80,000) & your next premium amount will also decrease. When my colleague inquired about this with company’s call center they came to know that if there no such scheme is going on. The same call was made to the guy sitting next to him & they offered Rs70,000 where as he had paid premium of only Rs.40,000!

  7. Two days back my ex-colleague called me. He had an (usual) bad experience with the ulip he took 3 years back. Now he want to dump the ulip and take an ‘child plan’ for his child which says pay for this years and get this amount after these years. I told him even child plan is a type of ulip but he doesn’t believed me. I done a small calculation and shown him that at last he gets much less then an recurring deposit. He hanged the phone and didn’t called me later!!!!

    He wanted me to say that this plan is great. I disagreed. Then !!!!!!!!

  8. Recently I went to a private bank to apply for a locker and guess what they wanted (I would say forced) me to invest in any of their ULIP plans. When I said no they did not offer me a locker and also their way of talking changed from requesting to demanding. I would rather not have a locker than buying any of their so called investment plans.

    P.S. They called themselves as No.1 private bank in India. so any guesses πŸ™‚

  9. Hi subra,

    When i opened a ppf account in SBI, the manager who signs the forms (she also involved in ulip sale) asked me to avoid this ppf and asked me to think in a broader sense . She asked me not to put money in ppf and put in the money in SBI SMART PERFORMER (HIGHEST NAV ). There i acted smartly and said ok to her to search in the internet. Whenever i go to remit money for ppf there i will see her convincing many people. My father s insurance agent asked me to take one insurance policy as i am statring my career(first job). I said no to him and i even convinced my father and surrendered jeevan ananad policy also. Thanks for your blogs which makes each and every individual think

  10. @santhosh @vignesh @Geo
    I got frequent calls from India’s No.1 private bank to have a personal loan, Convert EMI on credit card, Online medical insurance on credit card etc, I denied all of them. Then I called them for a service which is very simple(EMI facility), I got a reply like this “Sir You are not a selected customer, better have a loan on credit card”. I paid all the money next day and send my card in pieces to them.
    The thing is we have to work hard to find who give the service we need desperately.

  11. This was when HDFC Life Insurance did not offer an online term plan. I wanted to buy one and finalized HDFC after looking at its claims settlement ratio. The fact that i had a good banking relationship with HDFC Bank too contributed to this decision.
    After i entered by name and number on their website specifically mentioning that i would like to buy their term plan, i got a call from one of their sales managers who sought an appointment. On the D- day, he came over with one of his colleagues and asked a few questions regarding my liabilities, number of members in the family etc. Once he got to know that i have a kid, he started his selling pitch..for a unit linked plan. I heard him out patiently and then told him that i had specifically requested for a term plan. He tried his best to convince me saying that this is a better option etc, but thankfully i was firm.

    Folks, as Subra Sir mentioned in this post, just stop getting ripped off!. Take time to educate yourself as to what is best for you, what isn’t – there are many many articles out there which will educate you. Stay firm and say NO if the proposal is not for a product that you asked for.

  12. ICICIDirect RM – Few months back….
    RM: Sir, I have been appointed as your Relationship Manager to help you build wealth.
    Me: What is your qualification?
    RM: Sir I have extensive experience in wealth management.
    Me: Are you a CFP? Can you give few references?
    RM: Sir I am not a CFP but I have managed funds well.
    Me: What about references?
    RM: Sir I can provide you that once I am appointed as your RM
    Me: Which one would you recommend – ULIP or Term? Stocks or Bonds? Stocks or Mutual Funds?
    RM: Sir, definitely ULIP has a dual benefit of investment and insurance. You can do SIPs in our list of Mutual Funds. Bonds are also available.
    Me: All wrong. You didn’t ask me about my goals, risk appetite, investment time frame, etc etc etc. Thank you and please try somebody else.
    Rest is history, I do not have a RM, Yayyyyy πŸ™‚

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