I took a ULIP from AVIVA mainly pushed into it by an agent who was my wife’s relative and I also wanted a bit of life cover that came with it. But the agent fooled me into believing that I can take an additional policy at the time of the first policy which will be invested in the ULIP immediately and will be used as the second year’s premium.
But that was not to be - but I did not get any policy renewal notice except for a call from their Guragaon call center to which I responded saying that I have paid 2-year policy and the rep didn’t say anything. But I got a letter later saying that the policy will be lapsed if I don’t pay my premium. Then I went and read the fine lines and figured out that they had mentioned it clearly that additional premium will not be used as yearly policy. So I went and paid up. BTW, the agent had left the job after making good money.
Then I lost the policy document and requested for a duplicate by paying Rs.250/=. The check was debited in my account and I called their call center, which is an STD call for me, they said my policy was lapsed - I shouted at them saying that they were looking at an old stale database. But the agent had no information why it was showing as lapsed. Then I called again with the papers that said my policy has been reinstated. But the customer support executives had no clue, they promised to call me in the evening but never called. I checked online and it was also showing as LAPSED.
Then I raised the issue with the MRO and they said that the policy number has changed in the new policy and the database didn’t reflect it. That sounded a bit of nonsense to me. If their agents had no way of telling why it happened, then I still think that they screwed up. There was no cover for me for some period because I requested a duplicate policy. And the new policy didn’t have my additional policy in it.
Also to get the online access, they have some pathetic process and they send me a concealed letter with the password illegible. I had to follow up many times to get the access. Their offices are closed on saturdays, so you have to take time off from work to do business with them.
In summary, very poor service and I am waiting to complete the 3 years of the policy to close it off. The service from LIC and their online websites are far better than this so called multinational insurance companies. I would recommend you stay away from AVIVA.