Planning to buy insurance? Follow these 8 points to stay safe

If you are planning to buy an insurance plan, be careful and pay heed to a number of things you need to do before actually handing over your money to anyone. You must become aware of the tools and techniques that fraudsters are resorting to to dupe hard-earned money. Recently, a case came to light wherein over 200 investors across India were duped by some people impersonating as employees of insurance firms. The fraudsters made the victims invest in bogus policies and thereafter siphoned off the money after luring them by making false promises of handsome returns, reported PTI. Here is what you as an insurance buyer should keep in mind to keep your hard-earned money safe:-

1- Simply don't buy the insurance policy on the basis of a call centre phone call - Verify its authenticity by going to the relevant insurer's website

2- Don't fall for unrealistically high returns being offered - Do a search on the internet and official sites to know what's being really offered by bona fide companies

3- Avoid easily believing people that s/he is calling from XYZ insurance company - Ask for micro details

4- If a person says s/he is from a particular bank, ask for the documents, IDs or official website link of the scheme offered

5- Go to IRDA website to know the names of genuine and trusted companies selling insurance policies and schemes

6-Many a times, even if you ask for an official document, the call centre agent or the person selling policy sends you a word doc file - don't go for this; ask where it has been mentioned on the official website of the said company

7- If the caller urges you to invest in a lucrative one-time insurance policy, ask her/him about the returns offered in the past

8-  Never transfer money just on the basis of details given on a phone call

Keeping in mind the above-mentioned points, prospective insurance buyers can easily avoid financial traps by simply staying aware and alert.