I had purchased an Amazon Fire TV Stick, obviously, from Amazon over a month ago.You can find my review of the product, also, on MouthShut; which I had written a few days ago.
At the time of browsing for the product on Amazon, I came across offers of insurance for the product, prominently displayed, from a company OneAssist. I had never heard of the company until then.
Generally, when a person is interested in buying a product, he is in a good mood to buy an insurance cover for the product also. When a company like Amazon displays its concurrence with OneAssist on its page, you are bound to be convinced. I was too.
In a week after receiving the FireTV Stick, the OneAssist insurance policy documents were dispatched to me. A lot of mumbo jumbo, and insurance legalese, in fine print, nobody would read. I didn’t either.
A chance meeting with an old friend got us talking when my eyes fell on his mobile phone. The screen was damaged. When I made a tactless remark about his phone, his riposte was… “Just leave it yaar, don’t touch a raw nerve.”
“Come on, you can tell me, what are friends for? ” I volunteered, sympathetically.
After considerable cajoling, he said that the screen was damaged some ten days ago when it fell from his pocket. It was working fine except for the display, which looked like its days were numbered. He further added that he could not get the ‘touch screen display’ replaced because he’s stuck with OneAssist with whom his mobile was insured. IPhones don’t come cheap and he was fretting with every passing day. He had a whole lot to say against the company including some choice invectives. I thought he was hyperventilating and let it go at that.
Though, I never had my home appliances, electronic devices including my mobiles ever insured except for the one impulsive decision in respect of the FireTV Stick, I was more curious than apprehensive about this whole mobile insurance affair.
On reaching home, I decided to do some earnest enquiries among other friends, relatives who had a tryst with OneAssist. I did not limit my scope of enquiry to only friends and relatives but also took to peoples’ grievances on Google, Amazon, Flipkart, and YouTube. This was a good enough sample to study.
After physically interacting with all those people I knew, and then spending hours daily browsing the net going through individual complaints of aggrieved people I have reached certain conclusions.
Lack of proper knowledge about online insurance agencies:
People generally purchase this type of insurance for their home appliances, electronic gadgets, or mobiles online. It means, they don’t actually meet any representative of the company in a physical sense. This aspect gives rise to lack of commitment on the part of the company or its representatives on one hand and clients’ lack of trust with regard to the company on the other. Not a good start.
From an individual client’s point of view, the insurance is under most circumstances for a period of one or two years, paid in advance. The option is decided at the time of purchase of the product. Clients do not necessarily renew after the initially opted period of insurance is over. So, remember, for the company it is mostly a onetime insurance and the client is unlikely to return for further renewals. That means after the initial payment and registration, the company is no longer interested in you.
Every year, the company’s portfolio consists of predominantly new clients who know nothing of the track record of the company. The insignificant few who have come back for renewal are those who haven’t filed a claim because the product they purchased is working fine. So, they do not know how the company will process their claim, if any, in the future.
The company’s terms and conditions with regard to insurance and filing of claims are so obfuscating and printed in such a small font that they deter you from reading or making anything of it. Probably, you are better off not reading them and that’s exactly what the company expects from you.
The company is lawful, and legal, and therefore registered under the Company’s Act and other relevant Insurance Acts. Whether it does transactions and business that are ethical is, altogether, a different matter. These issues are not easy to establish, unless proper investigation is done by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, IRDA.
This is the grey area behind which most private, online insurance companies hide, and OneAssist is no different.
I have come across very few positive comments or views about the company and those that are positive may have been planted by the company, or its employees or their relatives, you never know. The rest believe the company is running a racket or scam. It is easy to believe but difficult to prove.
It is important to note, OneAssist is a facilitator and not an insurance company. It gets the products insured, on behalf of the clients, with National Insurance Company. It pays a small fee to NIC, whereas, it collects something like eight to fifteen times more from the client. In simple terms, it acts as an agent and pockets a large amount of the premium the client pays.
Why most claims are rejected?
Their documentation is designed to frustrate you and test your patience. Even registration of the product is a pain and takes a lot of time. Finally, you begin to pull at your hair.
The calls are cut off abruptly. The employees lack knowledge, but are rude. There is no proper follow up and every time a new person speaks to you and he knows nothing of your case. Imagine speaking to different speakers and starting from scratch on every single occasion.
OneAssist says you have to file a claim within 48 hours, but NIC says it should be done within 24 hours. There is so much of confusion.
The claim should be filed online along with an audio copy. The details given in both should match. Any slight discrepancy can render your claim invalid. Filing of claim is not easy for the average person.
Details such as, why, where, when, how, who was responsible for the damage, whether the person who damaged your insured product was known to you, or a stranger? All these little details matter if your claims are to processed further. Even so, no guarantee that your claim will be honoured.
If you are one of the luckiest persons on earth because your claim has finally been accepted, you are required to pay further amount as dictated by them. The cost of repairs or service is almost always highly inflated.
Before insuring the product, they will promise you the moon. After insuring, however, you will be forced to ‘moon around’.
Most of the rejections are on utterly flimsy grounds… negligence, no proper care taken, wilful damage, mysterious circumstances, or some such exotic reasons.
Is OneAssist a reasonably reliable organisation, or is there some kind of swindling going on?
Why do you insure a product in the first place? Obviously, to cover those very reasons the company is rejecting the claims. The point is, if you were that careful and alert all the time you don’t actually need an insurance plan.
Once again, we are left with the burning question- Are their activities fraudulent or unlawful? It is very difficult to say they are and even more difficult to prove that. however, I can, now, safely conclude that they are unethical.
In India the laws have so many loop holes that such companies can make hay as long as the Sun shines. It is for the government and the regulating agencies to scrutinize their affairs as well as make the laws more stringent so such companies never mushroom.
Online insurance through facilitators is a waste of time and serves no real purpose unless you are a litigant and willing to take them to court. That said, you will be wasting even more of your valuable time and money and bartering in mental torture.
Your best bet is to keep these insurance agents at a distance and take slightly more care of your product.
OneAssist is strictly not recommended.
mbfarookh ©