30 minutes nahin to Free!” When a popular pizza company says this, a lot of us (especially the really very hungry ones) reach out to place their order. The 30-minutes promise offers customers a great sense of comfort and they can now expect their steaming hot pizza to get delivered quickly. Similarly, Free-look Period Cancellation benefit in Insurance offers policyholders the comfort of returning the insurance policy if they find it not meeting expectations. Let’s see how.
How does Free-Look Period Cancellation work
When the policy docket arrives at your doorstep, there are a few things to check in the insurance policy contract. You need to go through in detail, the insurance contract, the policy certificate, the benefit illustration, product brochure, terms and conditions of the policy, etc. While in most of the cases everything is fine, in a rare few, there could be any of the following expectation gaps.
- What you have been told is not what has been sold
- The terms & conditions of the policy are not as per expectations.
- The features, benefits and policy exclusions, as understood by you are different from what is actually included.
- There could be any other reason for disappointment.
Luckily, help is at hand. The Insurance Regulator has stipulated that certain insurance contracts can be returned to the insurer under certain conditons, i.e. they can be cancelled. Here are the details.
How many days is the limit for Free-Look
When bought from an agent, bank or any other physical intermediary, the limit is 15 days from the date of receiving the policy document at your communication address. When bought online and/or tele-phonically, the Free-Look Period limit is 30 days. Also, please note that the period does not start from the Date of Issuance of the Policy but from the date you actually receive the policy document.
MintWise, being an IRDAI-approved Online Insurance Web Aggregator offers a 30-day Free-Look Period Cancellation benefit.
If you are unable to initiate Free-Look Period Cancellation within the relevant period, you can still cancel the policy later, however that is termed as Policy Surrender and very different rules will apply. Surrender of policy comes at a very high cost so if you really do intend to cancel, take your decision fast and ensure that you don’t miss the relevant Free-Look Period Cancellation deadline.
We strongly recommend that if you are indeed decided on opting for Free-Look Period Cancellation, do it yourself and do not rely on an intermediary (agent, banker, whoever you bought the policy from). Not that it is always the case but there have been instances when policyholders have not been able to exercise the option because of delay from the intermediary’s side. This has resulted in deep losses to the policyholder. Best avoided.
What kind of insurance policies are eligible for Free-Look
Not all kinds of insurance policies get this benefit. It is applicable only to the following.
- All Life insurance policies
- All Health insurance policies with a policy period of at least 3 years
What is the Free-Look Period cancellation process
If you want to exercise the right to cancel the policy within the Free-Look Period, you need to ensure that you do it in writing by submitting the same to the company within the stipulated time. Ensure that you get an acknowledgment from the company of having done so – it is very important. You may need this later if there is ambiguity over the cancellation request.
What are the charges for Free-Look Period Cancellation
Free-look is not 100% free like the pizza that came late! Charges will deducted by the insurance company before they refund you the premium you initially paid. Please note them carefully – all may not be applicable to you.
- Stamp Duty Charges – When a policy is issued, the insurer has to pay this amount to the exchequer. This cannot be refunded by the Govt to the insurer on cancellation of the policy. Hence it is not refunded to you. These charges are approximately 0.2% of the Sum Assured (life/health cover), not of the Premium.
- Insurer’s Administrative Charges : Scrutinizing your insurance proposal form, processing it through underwriting, issuing the policy, dispatch – all this comes at a cost. The insurer may deduct a nominal fee as administrative charges. There is no fixed rule – the amount or rate varies from insurer to insurer.
- Cost of Medical Tests : If your policy proposal involved a medical test, the company incurs them for you. If the policy is continued, the company bears the cost. But if you return/cancel the policy, you will have to take the hit from the premium paid. The amount depends on the kind of tests you have done and which medical center it was done at. If no medicals were done, nothing is deducted.
- Proportionate cost of Risk Cover : Please remember that from the date of issuance of policy till the date you submit the cancellation request, the insurance company has actually taken the risk of your death. This risk comes at a cost and is called the mortality/risk cover charge. A proportionate fee (depending on the no. of days) is deducted by the company for the period that you were covered for.
- NAV-adjusted charges (only for Unit Linked Insurance Plans – ULIP) : Cancellation of a ULIP policy is done by insurer by returning the exact no. of units allotted to the policy when the eligible part of premium was first invested. The impact to you could be either an increase in returned premium (if unit values have gone up) or a reduction (if the unit values have come down).
Finally…
Free-look is the second opportunity you get to decide on an insurance policy (the first being when you decided to buy it). We strongly recommend that right at the time of buying you do a thorough need-based research and take an uninfluenced decision on your own. Buy right and breathe easy. The good thing is that in case things do go wrong at all (which in rare cases they do), we still have the Free-Look Period Cancellation option to depend upon, even if it comes at a small cost.
Dear Yogesh,
IRDA has mandated that insurance companies provide a free look period of 15 days for life insurance policies within which the customer is entitled to return the policy and receive the premiums excluding any charges for the medical checkup etc.
However, the communication has to be done through the company’s formal customer service channels of branch, call centre, email etc. In any case, you will need to return the policy document and submit the required application.
So I recommend that you go to the company’s branch as soon as possible along with the policy documents and complete the required formalities at the earliest. Each company may have a slightly different cancellation format.
Dear Thomas,
IRDA has mandated that insurance companies provide a free look period of 15 days for life insurance policies within which the customer is entitled to return the policy and receive the premiums excluding any charges for the medical checkup etc.
However, the communication has to be done through the company’s formal customer service channels of branch, call centre, email etc. In any case, you will need to return the policy document and submit the required application.
So I recommend that you go to the company’s branch as soon as possible along with the policy documents and complete the required formalities at the earliest.
Nath, sorry for the delayed response. If Free-Look is indeed mentioned in the policy, there is no way it can be denied. If this is a group policy, the best way is to involve your company administration.
Fair enough. That’s a conscious and perhaps the right call that you are taking. Good luck, Aditi.
Thanks. Agreed that having an insurance cover is a good idea. I am not happy with the terms of this particular insurer. The premium is much higher than other insurers. I would like to evaluate other options and switch. However, my bank was (orally) refusing to complete the transaction (last minute before registration) unless I paid up for this particular insurer. Hence I paid and would now like to exit.
Yes, every insurance policy has a free-look period. You can approach the insurance company to cancel the policy. Borrower’s insurance is not mandatory. IRDAI does not require you to buy any insurance for loan purposes.
Having said that, have a cover for your home loan is not a bad idea. Please evaluate the option to retain it. The good thing about this policy is that unlike a fixed cover policy that you take separately, this policy would cover you only to the extent of the loan outstanding which keeps reducing over time. The policy is hence cheap.
The bad part is that it is generally a single premium policy for which the cost is added to your home loan principal right upfront. In case you pre-close your home loan, it could be a waste of money.
Is an insurance policy that covers home loans – such as Bharti Axa Life Loan Secure covered under the free look policy? I was forced to take an insurance with home loan, which I wish to return,
For a group insurance policy, the conditions are governed (and customized) entirely between the group (typically your employer or similar) and the insurance company on an annual basis. The deductions would be based completely on those pre-decided guidelines, Nath.
For your information, short term period is also applicable for individual health insurance policies. The cancellation charges you mentioned are similar for most companies.
It’s SBI General group health insurance policy.
Please share what kind of insurance policy you are talking about.
I realise that such deductions shall be made. But how can the insurer deny free look period. Shared below is an excerpt of their reply to my request seeking benefits of free look period. :
Please note that the refund shall be processed on short term period basis as per the mentioned table: –
Period on risk
Rate of premium refunded
Up to one month
75% of annual rate
Up to three months
50%of annual rate
Up to six months
25% of annual rate
Exceeding six months
Nil
Are they not denying free look?
Ask them what the deduction is.
Very likely that it could be admin charges, pro-rata cost of insurance, stamp duty and / or cost of medical test (if any). In which case, it is a valid deduction.
I cancelled an insurance policy within free look period, but I didn’t get the benefit of free look period and 25% of money paid was deducted. What to do?
Noted (We’ve edited the number so as to keep it secure).
A separate email has been sent to Max Life Online Support with a copy to you.
You can email the details to info@mintwise.com
No need to be tensed, Anurag. If you need us to help, please send your Quote id (alphanumeric 8 character) or Application no. (starting with 13…) – we can pick it up with them.
Maxlife insurance, i sent them a mail yesterday. No response so far. So a bit tensed
Should not be a problem. Get in touch with the company either through their call center or their customer service email id and send them the request for cancellation. You did not mention the company, else we could have shared more exact details.
I have filled the proposal form and paid amount for online term plan but now i dont want to take it for personal reasons. Am i entitled to get full refund? No medical or docentation done.
Thanks for your reply,I have not received any receipt from LIC.
I also did not receive a call from LIC regarding the documents, i was thinking the agent will give it to me.
I have requested for ECS monthly premium of Rs.10000, The first two premiums which i have paid is through a single cheque(Rs.20000) in the name of LIC to the agent as he requested to do so. The agent told me that after two months it will be directly deducted from my bank.
Today i received two message from bank –
“ACH debit mandate registered for Rs 5100/- in A/C No.XXX for LIC of India with UMRN No.XXX”
“ACH debit mandate registered for Rs 7100/- in A/C No.XXX for LIC of India with UMRN No.XXX.”
The total amount here adds to 12200/- albeit i had told the agent that monthly premium should not be more than 10000/- including everything.
Thank You
Hi Rishabh,
The documents are supposed to come directly from LIC and not through the agent. Have you at least received the premium receipts from LIC? If not, please check with your agent and LIC urgently.
If the policy document is not delivered to your communication address, ideally, most companies would call you on your mobile, re-check your address and re-send the policy. We are surprised that did not happen either.
Please approach LIC for a free-look. If they cannot prove that the document is delivered to you, they might still let you do a Free-Look. We can’t provide a definitive answer on if they will. No one can.
Are you paying premiums through ECS? If yes, please get your bank to stop that.
Let us know if you still need any help.
Hi,
Its been two months since i started my LIC Life insurance and I have paid premium for those two months but haven’t received the documents from the agent, Will i have 15 days of free look once my agent gives me the documents ?
Thanks
Dear Indira,
It appears that the policy was sold to you by giving incorrect information and not as per your requirements.
If you believe so, please go directly to the nearest SBI Life Insurance branch (no need to go the agent or bank) and tell them you want to do a ‘free-look’ of the policy. Take a written acknowledgment of the same for your records. Make sure this is done within 15 days of the policy, after that it cannot be done.
Once the policy is cancelled, the money will be returned to your bank or credit card account which you paid from.
Let us know if you need any further help.
Sir i took the smart elite sbi polacy single payment of 10lacks she told me 9.75%interest butt once I receive certificate it’s sum assured is 1250000 as 1.25% this is wrong I want tho cancel my polacy and get my money back pls. Advise what tip do
Good to hear that, Praveen. And big thanks for educating our readers on this process – will really help.
While you have cancelled your policy, please do make sure you buy adequate life insurance through a term insurance plan so that your family is protected from any eventuality that may happen. In case you want to, here’s a link that can help you compare premiums and buy right.
https://www.mintwise.com/term-insurance-compare
Thank you Mintwise.
I have exercised the option of Free Look Period and cancelled my policy. The Bank Manager Called me the same day I have applied for FLC and sked me whether I have cancelled the policy. He said he got an SMS from SBI Life. Anyways, I told some excuse. Finally I got my money with a very very minimal deduction. This is useful information that if you buy a policy from a Bank, the concerned Bank officer will get intimation of canacellation. So you have to be alert. If you are really going to cancel the policy which may be forced you to buy, do it only after you get the facilities applied in the Bank, but within the time limit for FLC.
Sameer, sorry for the late revert. Are the cancellation charges mentioned in the policy document?
Dear Raghunath,
You cannot reclaim the same policy after it is free-looked.
You can choose a good policy through this link below.
https://www.mintwise.com/term-insurance-compare
At any time, let us know if you need our help.
Good luck, Sir.
Dear Rahul,
Sorry for the delayed response.
We understand your position completely. When you surrender the policy, there is a high loss on investment. Our recommendation is that you could check with the life insurance company to convert the policy into a ‘paid-up’ policy. You can do that at the branch office of Max Life after checking whether it is eligible.
We can help you in case you want us to – do let us know the name of the policy and when it started.
Hope this helps.
Sorry for the delayed reply, Praveen.
If you are clear that you do not want the policy, just return it – don’t bother or worry about whether the Bank Manager will be intimated or not. It’s your money.
When you return the policy (go to a branch of SBI Life and do it) and ensure you take an acknowledgment of having submitted the free-look request.
And in case you have not got yourself a term insurance plan, make sure you do! Here’s a link to help you buy it.
https://www.mintwise.com/term-insurance-compare
Arun, first please evaluate if you really need to cancel the policy. If you are indeed sure, you may send the company an email, or better still go to their nearest branch, submit a free-look request and take an acknowledgement / receipt for the same.
Also, while we do not know what is the driving reason for you to buy an endowment plan, we would strongly recommend you switch over to a term insurance plan if insurance cover is what you are looking for.
Here is a link for the same.
https://www.mintwise.com/term-insurance-compare
Sir I have paid the premium for the PNB Metlife Endowment Savings Plan plus but yet to receive the policy document, Is there anyway I can cancel it before the policy document is actually generated
Sreejith, sorry for the delay in response. As per the company, we suggest you speak to their call centre and also send an email to service.helpdesk@maxlifeinsurance.com. Do let us know if you query is still unanswered.
An authorization letter should be absolutely fine. However some companies may have a different rule around this.
hii, is it required to submit the free look cancellation form directly by the policy holder or i can assigh a person with authorization letter for this….
thanks in advance
Dear Anil,
Presuming that you are not interested in the policy and that it has been forced upon you, please file a complaint with the bank immediately and take an acknowledgment of it.
Also, in case you receive the policy document, return it within 15 days to the insurance company (not the bank) and make sure you get the full amount back.
Hi, today I went SBI bank for fixed deposit but some of SBI life insurance person said for insurance and he was misguiding me in terms more interest, but I want to fixed deposit the amount. and already amount is already deducted from my sb account. what should I do now I want to refund my balance.
Quite surprising you did not receive the document yet. 8-9 months ago is a long time for non-receipt. Generally, if the policy is returned (reasons could be any), the company does reach back to you and ask you for an alternative way to deliver.
You will need to inform the company immediately and tell them you haven’t received it. You will also need to tell them about your free-look. The decision will be the company’s.
I purchased a policy from reliance. Life near about 8-9 months ago…but I didn’t receive my policy document till now. So can I do the process for free look of my policy…
1. Good to hear that you are now thinking about a term insurance plan. It’s a decision you will always be happy you made.
2. Smoking – We are only able to offer an opinion here because insurers handle this scenario on a case to case basis. In our view, 2 years is too short a time for change in status to non-smoker. Ideally it takes 10 years, at least 5-7 for your body to come back to the health status of a non-smoker, everything else remaining constant. So I presume, you will need to declare yourself as a smoker.
Another option is to show yourself as a non-smoker, but ALSO MENTION TO THE COMPANY that you have quit smoking only 2 years back. This is very important. If you don’t, and the company also does not find out now, you don’t want your claim to be rejected later on grounds of non-declaration of facts. That would be a really bad situation, right.
So we suggest you declare yourself as Smoker. It is just a matter of a few dollars more.
3. We do not recommend any brand on this website. Anyone who does that would have a reason for doing so. Brand choice should be yours, entirely. We only give you data and facts on products and brands – you need to take the pick yourself and based on your needs and comfort levels. Hope you will understand our stance.
4. Increasing term plan looks good for you if you are protecting income – you many not get too many choices though. You can also choose a lumpsum plan with constant cover and then buy another similar one later. Check the link below for guidance on this.
https://www.mintwise.com/blog/term-insurance-plan-split/
Also, when you buy after another 5-7 years, your status may be accepted as non-smoker if you have kicked the butt for good.
Finally, Arunkumar, we’ll be delighted if you choose our website for term insurance comparison. Here’s the link.
https://www.mintwise.com/term-insurance-compare
Hope we were able to help you, Sir. Good luck.
Thank you very much for your valuable inputs. I agree i should have been more cautious. Nevertheless, i thought the same, to get a term insurance for 30 years. Any suggestions on that?
Which policy is good? I was smoker and now i left completely from last two years. Can i declare myself non smoker or smoker? Do i need to take one more term policy after 5 or 10 years considering increase in the income or i can go with the increasing term plan? Please clarify this.
Unfortunately, Arunkumar, your case is not uncommon. And we must mention that you (and many such customers facing this situation) should have ideally taken the responsibility to check at least some of the basic facts yourself before plunging into a long term financial instrument such as traditional child plans. We can’t be blaming everyone else after not fulfilling our own due diligence. Anyway…
1) We are surprised you have not received the policy document. If you indeed haven’t please get in touch with the company. Also tell them that you would like to free-look the policy and represent your case in writing or email, not tele-phonically. They may consider your case. But please check point 2 below, first and then take a decision.
2) No. If your expectation was that bonus is paid on SA+previous bonuses and it has turned out to be only on SA, there is indeed a gap. However, in either cases, the bonus is a percentage decided every year based on performance of the investments done by the company. So if the company decides to give a certain bonus amount, whether it x% of SA or Lesser-than-x% of SA+PreviousBonus does not make any difference. Finally the bonus amount is what matters.
Also what the agent has hopefully showed you before buying are scenarios based on 4% and 8% fund performance. But they are only scenarios. Actually performance bonus would be based on real performance of the funds. In the end, expect a pre-tax Return-on-Investment of about 4.5 – 6.5% on such products.
All in all, what you actually get may not be too far from your expectations. But that is your call.
In case you do end up closing the policy or converting to paid-up, ensure that you first buy a separate online term insurance plan to ensure that your family is protected. That is the reason insurance is bought. The link below will help you.
http://www.mintwise.com/term-insurance-compare
3) Bonus trends of all companies are in the same range. Expect pre-tax returns of about 4.5% to 6.5% on survival.
Hope this helps you decide, Arunkumar. And next time, please read the product brochure and even check the sample policy document before you buy an insurance policy from anyone / anywhere. It is in your interest.
Hello,
I purchased SBI Life – Smart Champ Insurance in the month of Jan-16. Agent who sold the policy has given wrong information’s about the benefits. He told me that yearly bonus gets added to the sum assured, thus its gives cumulative bonus on the upcoming years. For Example- For 10 L sum assured, 5% is the bonus paid in the last financial year by SBI, which means 50,000/- will be the bonus. for next year if 5% bonus is declared, then I will get a bonus on 10,50,000/- which is 52,500/-. I verified this with the SBI customer care and it will not be in that way. Bonus for every year will be on the sum assured (10L) only. So I felt I was cheated and asked him to cancel the policy. He said policy is already processed and can’t be canceled. Later I came to know abt the Free look-in period. So I thought I will request it once after I receive my policy document by myself. But till today my policy document was not delivered to me. Sadly now I changed my city also, so I need to ask them to deliver it to my new address.
My question to you:-
1) still free look-in period is applicable is this case? Or it is already over.
2) What you suggest? To continue or make it paid up policy after few years?
3) What is the SBI life’s bonus trend?
Please help me out.
It’s a pleasure to be of help to you, Lincon.
Thanks a lot, for your guidance…
Dear Mr. Arora, your concern is common and valid but is not something to be worried about. Insurance policies without medical tests are designed that way – the risk of such a policy is priced into your premium. It does not at all mean that the company will go overboard and reject your claim on medical grounds. If you have declared everything about your health and lifestyle honestly and clearly in your application form, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
Also, death from any disease/medical problem you contract after applying for the policy is also covered by the policy and can never be the grounds for rejection of a claim.
On the point of cost of medical tests, it is not that companies are saving cost but it is cheaper for them to price in the risk of not doing medicals rather than actually conduct the tests. Doing medical tests are expensive and it will make the premiums very high for a low sum assured. Hence this approach.
In our view, you may lay your apprehensions to rest and continue with both the policies.
Dear Sir,
I have purchased two online term plans worth 50 Lacs each from ICICI Prudentials and Max life. Both insurance companies have issued term insurance policies to me without doing any medical test. Executive from Max life has called me and said that there is no medical test required in my case. When I have asked him that then how you will make sure that I don’t have any medical problem, then he has answered in 7000 rupees premium, they can’t do full body scan. ICICI Prudentials (10800 rupees premium) has not even called me for the same and issued the policy.
As of today I don’t have any Disease/Medical Problem mentioned in policy conditions, but as you never know about future and any Medical Problem can occur to anyone. As I have taken this policy for next 35 years, I don’t want my family to be in situation if they file claim in their bad time and these companies reject it by saying that some Medical Problem was there at the time of taking this policy as we have not done Medical tests.
Are all companies doing this these days to save medical checkup expenses? As I know couple of years back my friends have taken similar policies and blood/urine tests has been for them. Please suggest what should I do. I am still in free lookup period and don’t want my family to be in trouble after me.
Yes Rudrapratap it is required to be submitted back.
Yes, you can , Raghavendra.
Thanks for the article…is original policy document request for free-look?
Can I do free-look for pension policy also sir?