Cheating: Insurance agent sold over 1000 invalid policies
The company, after finding it through an internal audit has sent a demand notice to the customers to pay the dfferential premium and had initially approached the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the City police, which had then directed the complainants to approach the local police.
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CHENNAI: Police are closing in on an insurance agent who allegedly sold over 1000 policies to unassuming customers - mostly drivers and owners of load vans at subsidized rates for a commission by recording their vehicles as two-wheelers instead of four-wheelers.
Apart from creating loss of over Rs 1 crore to the insurance firm, the insurance agent has also sold invalid policy documents to the public, which will not be admissible in case of claims after accidents, thereby defrauding both the company and the customers.
Thousand Lights police have registered a case based on a complaint from G Prakash, Manager of Reliance General Insurance Company.
"There could also be a racket behind this as as some would have fraudulently sold such policies to third parties and would have purportedly collected higher premiums from the owners of the commercial vehicles and provided them two wheeler insurance policies which are forged and the agents siphoned off the difference in premium for their wrongful gain, " the complaint from Reliance General insurance stated and added that the loss to the company is Rs 1.9 crore wherein the premium collected is only Rs 7 lakh.
The company, after finding it through an internal audit has sent a demand notice to the customers to pay the dfferential premium and had initially approached the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the City police, which had then directed the complainants to approach the local police.
According to the FIR (First Information Report), the fraudulent act was committed between January 2021 and September 2022.
City Police sources said that the investigation is likely to be transferred to the EOW (Economic Offences Wing) for further investigation as police suspect it to be a larger racket by the middlemen insurance agents to defraud both the company and the customers.
Advocate V S Suresh, who has over two decades of experience appearing in Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) cases said that the issue is widely prevalent in mofussil areas. "The Insurance companies should be more careful and do periodic checks. Many allow a free hand to their agents to achieve targets. While the agents go by the book for the first year or two, they then use this tactic. The vehicle owner too will realise when he applies for claim for damages or in case of an accident. Until now, courts used to direct the pay and recovery method wherein they direct the insurance company to pay the customer and then recover from the accused agent, " Suresh said.