ILOILO City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) will look into a report about a college student complaining she was lured into getting an insurance policy at a mall.
“Insurance is not illegal but we want to look into the manner of selling…how people are enticed to part with their money for this kind of service,” said Councilor R Leone Gerochi.
A female college student complained she may have been scammed. A sales agent of an insurance company initially gave her a flyer about a purported raffle promo.
The student said she was enticed to drop by the office of the insurance company right at the mall where she was rushed to fill out documents for an insurance policy. Then she was asked to present an automated teller machine card and check its balance, said the student.
According to the student, she later realized that P6,000 was withdrawn from her account. She said wanted to cancel the insurance policy but the management declined.
She also demanded a refund but was turned down, she said.
The matter was referred to the SP committee on trade, commerce and industry chaired by Councilor Candice Magdalene Tupas.
Gerochi said this must be looked into. He believed there could be more people here with experiences similar to the college students’.
“Imbestigaran ta [‘ni in aid of legislation. We will seek the help of the Department of Trade and Industry and come up with an ordinance,” said Gerochi.
From what he had gathered, according to the councilor, there were similar complaints about this insurance selling scheme in other parts of the country.
“Perhaps Iloilo City will be the first city to pass legislation against this kind of practice that leaves so many people feeling they were cheated,” said Gerochi.
Councilor Joshua Alim, a lawyer, said he had three clients with complaints similar to the college students’.
“Gahibi ang kliyente. Why? Hulamon ang imo ATM, i-check kon may balance. Pag-balance, P8 mil na ang na-kwan sa iya ATM,” said Alim.
Meanwhile, DTI-Iloilo Director Diosdado Cadena Jr. confirmed the student filed a complaint at their office.
Cadena said DTI would summon the insurance company for a mediation conference with the complainant.
The contract was apparently not explained well to the complainant, said Cadena.
“Nasobrahan, daw hard sell na sya eh, to some extent misleading,” said Cadena./PN
