It is not uncommon to see Credit Card Companies offering Free Insurance with your Card. There are lot of Traps and Loopholes in the offers they make. One of our reader writes to us as follows,
I used to own a ICICI Credit card number 4477469985851008 for which I still get calls for pending payments even after settling the amount. The real issue is between ICICI bank and ICICI Lombard since I got a lucky draw offer of free health insurance for my parents from ICICI lombard. (Details given below). This mail is regarding the bill payment on credit card 4477469985851008. The bill showed a debit amount of around Rs. 26000/- on the bill dated 25/08/2007 for ICICI Lombard General Insurance as an EMI. The details of the insurance policy are: ICICI lombard General Insurance: Master policy reference: 4005-0000-784 1 lac policy. Period of insurance: 20/01/2006 till midnight of 29/01/2007. Date of issue 23/01/2006. I had bought this insurance for my parents because it was offered for free in 2006 by ICICI Lombard on my credit card number 4477469985851008. The first payment was done using this credit card, and the insurance agency has deducted the amount from my account this time too, without asking for my permission. The insurance was supposed to be of one year and the company violated the policy by debiting the amount directly from my account. I paid an amount of 20,000 Rs. after many harassing and threatening calls where they threatened to send their goons for collection purposes. After that every year after 2008 when this amount was settled, we keep on receiving threatening calls regarding payment. Even yesterday, my sister got a call regarding this on her business number (which I dont know how they traced to be belonging to my sister). I tried to contact them through email but without any response. I had also sent a letter to them demanding an explanation of this harassment every other year for an amount which was already paid off. Please look into this matter and contact me if you need more details. I have maintained all my written communications with their customer support and other bank professionals.
Should One Opt for Insurance Offers on Credit Cards ?
After having have read our reader’s plight, we’d recommend not to fall prey to any such marketing gimmicks as there is no FREE Lunch in this World. Outright reject any Health / Life Insurance Offers on your Card as the Credit Card issuing Bank will definitely cover the cost in some way.