Lippo Life service

Lippo Life service

On Jan. 13, 2000, I went to the Lippo Life Metropolitan Mal
branch in Bekasi and applied for a life insurance policy. I was
told that because the sum insured was quite high my application
would be subject to a full medical checkup. I attended the
medical examination at Rumah Sakit Mitra Keluarga on Jan. 22,
2000, and was given the OK by both doctors.

Following my checkup, I received no further information from
Lippo Life until I took the initiative to telephone the Lippo
Life agent in the Metropolitan Mal branch. (For the record, I
telephoned the agent in the last week of January). The agent
informed me that Lippo Life had accepted my policy and that the
sum insured was the amount stated on the insurance proposal. No
mention was made as to when I would receive the policy document.

At the beginning of February, I again telephoned the agent to
check when I would received the policy document. As the agent
could not answer my question, I decided to telephone the Lippo
Life head office. Upon being transferred to the underwriting
department, I was told that my medical results had still not been
received from Mitra Keluarga. When I informed the underwriting
officer that the agent had already advised me that my policy had
been accepted, he asked for my telephone number and told me he
would call me back that afternoon.

Surprisingly, the underwriting officer kept his word and
phoned in the afternoon, however, he informed me that the sum
insured had been reduced, contrary to the previous statement from
the agent, because the Lippo chief medical officer considered me
to be seven kilos overweight. I was then informed that my policy
document would be forwarded shortly by courier to my house
address.

On Feb. 25, 2000, I went to the Metropolitan Mal branch to
again check on the whereabouts of my policy. The agent could only
tell me what I already knew, "that my policy was in the mail".
His assistant, upon seeing that I was angry, laughed and quite
patronizingly told me to be patient.

Given the pathetic service that I have received from Lippo
Life and the fact that I still have not received my policy
document, I request that Lippo Life cancel my policy and refund
the premium that I paid at the time of application. If issuing a
policy document is such a hassle for Lippo Life, I would hate to
think what would happen if I ever needed to make a claim.

MARK RIDDETT

Bekasi, West Java