I am here to explain about my experience with HDFC Standard Life Insurance.
I bank with HDFC Bank North Paravur and one day a staff from the bank (Mr Aneesh) approached me about a ULIP plan which spanned 5 Years with a yearly premium of 20000Rs. He told me as per the past years return HDFC standard life insurance give a return of 22% an year and he can personally give a guarantee about at least 18% return. When asked about the high initial charges associated with ULIPs he told me they are just associated with plans from some lesser known companies and his company only take 20% of the premium into charges in the first year and from second year 98% of my payment will be invested. All this was apparently a lie. He kept bugging me until I agreed to join.
After joining I saw that the actual funds allocated was much less than what was promised and I contacted him about this. He said the values are low because the markets went just after taking the policy down and it come back up soon. On further investigation I found that the policy span was that of 10 years as well as only 40% or something of my initial premium was invested everything else went to administrative charges. So I was just left with around 6000 Rs in my account after all deductions. When I tried to further contact about the issue Mr Aneesh refuses to pick up my calls and finally I complained to HDFC customer service about the same.
HDFC customer services ruled that all facts were perfectly explained to me at the time I took the policy and I wont get a refund or any compensation for the same. The independent review is said to be conducted by My Ramaswamy, Branch Manager, HDFC Bank, North Paravur. He had called and scheduled an appointment with me regarding the same and he failed to show up. Despite my several attempts to contact him at the bank he never called me or agreed to meet me. I guess he is protecting his colleague Mr Aneesh.
Friends, insurance is something we take as a future investment as well as to be a financial support for our family in case something happens to us. Will you trust someone with this reputation to be there when we our-self might not be there to take care of things. I request all of you to stay away from HDFC insurance so that you don’t lose your faith in the banking community as well as you hard earned money.