Professional Documents
Culture Documents
through
business
malpractices
such
as
authorities
honestly
and
regularly.
Avoid
Honor
responsibilities
and
regulating
professional
organizations
the
insurance
industry
has
often
nurtured
this
usurious
prices,
and
dishonest
business
practices.
Is insurance a good business after all? Does it raise so many
ethical questions that we should just avoid or eliminate it?
Once looked at carefully, insurance is a wonderful and much
needed product. Insurance, at its core, is a pooling of
community risks. It is a formalized way for people to come
together and help each other. For example, when we pay life
insurance premiums, we are putting our money together, not
just to help ourselves but to help other families. When
someone else dies, his family benefits because a payment can
be made from this pool of premiums and the investment
income that arises from it. When we die, our claim is paid to
our family, from the same pool. People, in more informal ways,
have done this for centuries. When someone dies, those
remaining help the family. This may appear very basic, but
insurance is much more powerful than just survivor benefits.
Insurance allows us to take risks and therefore fully live our
lives. Insurance is required in most industries and professions.
This gives us some assurance of the quality of goods and
services that we use. Commercial insurance for industries and
professions has underwriting standards that require certain
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10
CODE OF ETHICS
Selling Life Insurance is like selling intangible product. So, the
marketing staff needs to observe a set of norms in his / her
professional conduct, which make him / her worthy of trust and
faith.
The Code of Ethics for the life insurance, marketing staff :1. To perform his / her duties in high esteem.
2. To give utmost priority to the client's interest.
3. Not to disclose client's confidential and personal information
4. To ensure prompt and sincere service to the client and his or
her family.
5. To use appropriate methods in convincing clients to protect
their
insurable interest.
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Company.
12. To be loyal to the Organization.
Do's
1. Identification of marketing staff and the insurance agency certificate of License to be shown to the prospect on demand.
2. Match the needs of his / her client with various products
available with his insurer.
3. Work out the premium to be charged so that his / her
prospect is able to weigh the economic or financial implication
of the proposal on his / her resources.
4. Bring to the notice of his / her client the implication of
various questions in the proposal form and other documents
and advise the client to disclose all the material information.
5. Disclose to the insurer all relevant information.
6. Inform the prospect about acceptance or rejection of the
proposal by the insurer.
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There are many ways to build trust through ethics, the most
fundamental being the way the product is designed. It should
offer complete clarity and transparency and the literature
supporting the product should not over-promise the benefits or
understate the risks.
For e.g. At Birla Sun Life, the use of the sales illustration, the
inclusion of the policy proposal form, and the free look period
they offer have served to win their customers' trust. By giving
customers the option to track investments online and by
publishing the performance of the funds against benchmark
indices, specifically prepared for Birla Sun Life by CRISIL, they
prove that they are an open and reliable organization.
Ethics is an attitude that needs to touch every aspect of the
customer relationship. It entails having great reverence for the
customer's needs, being open to suggestions and insights that
might enhance his / her comfort levels, building in riders and
flexibility
options
that
address
these
needs,
providing
the
flip
side,
lack
of
ethics
can
have
serious
adherence,
its
implementation
depends
on
the
16
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
of
the
insurance
company
or
any
of
its
customers.
(5)
(6)
(7)
Remaining
unauthorizedly
absent
without
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intimation
Purpose
This Code is intended for all the Board Members and Senior
Management personnel and includes areas of ethics, integrity
and honesty, providing guidance to help them recognize and
deal with ethical issues; mechanisms to report unethical /
dishonest conduct; and help foster a culture of honesty,
integrity and accountability.
Applicability
Ethical conduct is critical to the Companys business. This Code
does
not
specifically
address
every
potential
form
of
not
take
unfair
advantage
of
anyone
through
of
the
Company
will
act
in
good
faith,
Company,
(c) The receipt of improper personal benefits by a member of
his / her family as a result of ones position in the Company,
(d) Any outside business activity that detracts an individuals
ability to devote appropriate time and attention to his / her
responsibilities with the Company,
(e) The receipt of non-nominal gifts or excessive entertainment
from any person /company with which the Company has
current or prospective business dealings,
(f) Any significant ownership interest in any supplier, customer,
development partner or competitor of the Company,
(g) Any consulting or employment relationship with any
supplier, customer, business associate or competitor of the
Company.
Discrimination and Harassment
The Company is committed to providing a workplace free of
discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion,
age, gender, national origin, disability or any other biases. It
would be the Endeavour of every Board Member and Senior
Management of the Company to see that work place is free
from such environment. If any employee is discriminated, he
/she may lodge a complaint of discrimination or harassment to
the Whistleblower Committee of the Company.
Compliance with Laws, Rules and Regulations
Board Members must comply with and oversee compliance by
employees and officers, with laws, rules and regulations
applicable to the Company / its personnel, including insider
trading regulations. Board Members must deal fairly, and must
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Confidential Information
The Board Members and Senior Management shall maintain
the confidentiality of Confidential Information of the Company
or that of any customer, supplier or business associate of the
Company
to
which
Company
has
duty
to
maintain
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officer
of LIC
is
or
management
of
any
other
company
Conclusion
The ethical and spiritual path in insurance, and in life, is an
individual one.
At times, it can feel like a solitary path. Ethics is not reached
by consensus but by conviction. The ethical path may not be
popular but it does stand the test of time. Ethics is not a hard
and fast set of rules but is based upon guiding principles.
Ethics should guide our communities, yet they are deeply
personal. Above all, ethics and the spiritual compass that
underlies our individual ethical code, is not a destination, it is
not even a journey, it is the journey. What is good, right and
true usually stands the test of time and may not always be
immediately apparent. The ethical stake in the ground will
always be scrutinized and criticized by someone.
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