Insurance Agents’ Questions

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32031, 4 July 1969, Page 10

Insurance Agents’ Questions

Sir,—When I proposed to have my life insured I thought it would mean a medical examination by my doctor, the report to be sent to the head office. Instead, the agent asked me what I last consulted the doctor for and whether I was pregnant. Is it fair that an agent can rob married couples of the little privacy they have? When I complained to the firm I received a cleverly written letter saying they held the agent in high esteem, and that most life assurers are similar. Is this

true? Would it not be fair to give the proposer the choice of a medical examination? Do all insurance firms remind clients of their mortgage when they are approached on an entirely different matter? —Yours, etc., WONDERING. June 28, 1969. [Mr J. W. Jameson, public relations officer of the Canterbury branch of the Life Underwriters’ Association, replies: “It is regretted that your correspondent was apparently asked so bluntly such personal questions. The insurance representative normally fills in a proposal form with, and on behalf of, the client, which proposal determines whether further medical investigation is justified. Unnecesary medical examinations would be an unwarranted and costly drain on policyholders’ funds. It therefore follows that proposal forms must contain sufficient details relating to the proposer's medical history. It would have been wiser and certainly more discreet for the representative to have handed the proposal form to the proposer to fill in the medical details, or at least to have had her read the questions through, as well as the usual complete reading of the form and verity clause above the signature at the time of signing. The Life Underwriters’ Association, to which many agents belong, is anxious to raise the status of the underwriter (or representative) in the eyes of the insuring public and its code of ethics is specific in relation to the points raised: *(a) To respect my client’s confidence and hold in trust personal information; (b) to employ every proper and legitimate means to persuade my client to protect insurable obligations but to rigidly adhere to the observance of the highest standards of business and professional conduct’.”]