[hrman]

When my renewal was up , I started getting many calls. I look at it positively. I just pitch one agent against another and got the best quote from them. Their quote was marginally better than the online quotes from policybazaar etc. And these calls dwindle as the age of the car increases. The first year is the worst.

And those who want to get the quotes from policybazaar.com without putting your contact details, please try www.accuratequotes.in.
Queries made on Policybazaar are redirected here, and you don't need to post any contact details to generate quotes.

For my Rapid, the first year insurance was with ICICI Lombard and the first renewal was on. I got emails from ICICI Lombard on a daily basis about one month before expiry. I just replied to the ICICI Lombard email id with large cap size 40 font saying"PLEASE STOP SENDING ME RENEWAL REMINDERS OR I WILL APPROACH IRDA FOR BREACH OF PRIVACY, UNWANTED SOLICITATION AND SPAMMING". I sent this email to them about 40 times in less than one hour.
They finally called, apologized profusely and the reminders stopped after that.

[honeybee]

Get India Against Spam installed on your Android phone and report all those pesky callers.

[GTO]

Unfortunately, customer databases are bought & sold every day in the market. Your name & contact details are passed around for dirt cheap rates.

My defence against spam calls = Make sure your number is registered on the DND registry. As others have suggested, use Truecaller. It is surprisingly accurate with flagging spam calls. Plus, not only can you mark numbers for spam, you can also permanently block them.

P.S. Now, if only I could do something about PR company spam calls. They've made it a ritual to call after each press release is emailed. My answer to them usually is "If you've sent an email, obviously I've gotten it". What's the point of a follow-up call after every email? . They can well & truly get on your nerves.

[Sheel]

Any way to get rid of SMS's? Calls can be blocked, but Truecaller doesn't block SMS (in new upgraded version)

[jaaz]

I'm an Insurance Agent for Life & General Insurance. Life Insurance, to some extent is ok. But General Insurance, there's a lot of poaching happening from all forms of communications. And I've raised this issue with the Managers but of no use. So, We as Independent Agents are also tired of these tactics.

My own Clients are harassed. Sometimes, they inform the Customer that the Policy is not renewed and create suspicion (Renewed Policies).

If we can send a Complaint collectively to IRDA, then it might help.

There are some reports on the net, that Truecaller app tracks our own data, Whether you're Online or Offline.

[charanreddy]

Completely agree.. random people started calling me 3 month before my insurance was to expire. I, as a rule, don't pick up unknown calls, if they are so important, they will message me anyway.

What I find funny is the directionless targeting. I renewed insurance from ICICI about a month back and I still get mails from them saying "Your insurance is up for renewal" or "Renew before it expires".

And I can assume, the success rate will be at max about 1% and it is not cheap to call every one either. This useless operations expense again feeds into the quotes we get

[psn]

I have been told that the information is not leaked at the dealer level or insurance company level, but at the RTO Level. But I am not sure. However, there is a silver lining to this entire exercise.
I came to know more about the policy and riders after having spoken to the agent who called me, than what the dealer representative had cared to inform me about.
Some of the add on's that I came to know about and think are useful were:
1. 0 dep policy
2. Insurance for Occupants in case of an accident
3. Compensation for daily commute incase the car has gone for repairs
4. In case one has a driver, he can also take an insurance on the driver at a very nominal rate. I don't have a driver so didn't.

Secondly, by having more people to deal with I also realized that the premium amount that I had paid to the dealer was way higher than what I should have paid for.

And I will not even inform you that after all the bargaining in premium price, some agents are even willing to give cash back from the commission, which a dealer wont.

So, loads of learning and money saving thanks to the pesky calls. Was worth it for me actually....!2th Feb is the due date for me, I am ready to take your calls agents.. Bring it on.

[D'Artagnan]

I faced a similar problem with my car insurance. I follow this method to prevent people from spamming me:

1. Buy a cheap phone or take out your old unused phone
2. Buy a sim card any operator will do

Use this number whenever any website like policybazaar, bankbazaar or other car web sites ask you for personal info. Even while filling up forms fill random information about your place of birth, age and income, never fill out your original information, if you do then most likely you will be spammed by these companies.

Using the phone for your personal benefits:
1. Switch on the phone and use it only when the ask you to give a missed call or to verify your number
2. Otherwise for the most time keep it switched off (not for very long or your sim will be barred)

Where to use them:
1. bankbazaar.com
2. policybazaar.com
3. quikr.com
4. olx.in
and other websites that ask you for personal information or publish your personal information.

This can be done when you're buying a new car or getting insurance or buying some stuff from Croma (croma asks you for your mobile phone number for billing an item!!). This method requires a bit of planning and some forethought too. In this case if you have given the wrong phone number, then you will have to call your insurance agent using a different number or directly walk into their office to renew your insurance. You are a data point always choose your devils carefully i.e choose carefully whom you will share your private information with.

How is this information used?
I used to work in the big data industry and have to say people just give away private information about their life without any regard for how it will be used?. And it's easy too, old people and young kids are most susceptible to the dark methods of gathering information online. Your information is leaked to people who will target you e.g ad companies or data scientists (like how it is in this thread) this type of targeting is cold calling, one of the least returns type of targeting. There are more advanced methods that companies use to mine valuable data and predict what you are most likely going to splurge on and only those ads are targeted towards you and viola without you knowing you've bought it.

Disclaimer: I value my private information as my own and I do not liked to coined as a data point, source of data or become part of a revenue generation model for some company, but this is the price to pay for information available online. I choose to combat companies invading my privacy in own way and I've got nothing against these companies.

[i74js]

It's a catch 22 situation, I applied for a home loan and used a DSA for ease of work so that I don't have to run for various functions to get the loan sanctioned.

Now the issue is that while doing so, since this is a home loan case, you share information and absolutely correct to the last dot.

I am sure some jr. staff of the DSA parted away with my information and within 3 days of signing on documents, I started getting calls from peers of that DSA offering me better deals. Since one of them by mistake mentioned from where he got my details, I discovered the source.

I doubt if there are any fool proof methods to keep personal information safe. More so when we buy mobile connections and provide documentary evidence for the same; I seriously doubt if the same photocopies of documents are not used to issue sim cards to someone else.

I am scared with today's technology but am equally helpless. Private sector is clearly here to make money with least of ethics in their approach towards customers.

Cheers

[rev_rohit]

All documents must be read carefully before signing. It's really dangerous that whatever personal information we are sharing with companies can be sold to anyone for few bucks.
I think if any personal information is publicised without our consent is illegal and legal action should be taken against such companies.

[lapis_lazuli]

Best is to bypass all the insurance sites, and go directly to accuratequotes.in which is the true aggregator. I never ever, disclosed my mobile number but still, I get calls once in a while. If a lady calls, aske her out for a coffee, the call will be disconnected immediately.....

[D C]

Originally Posted by malgudi

Have raised a case with Honda with regards to breach of my confidential Information. Is there anything else that I should do. Appreciate all the help and advice guys.

As far as I know, the insurance companies share a common platform for the customer information and insurance history. That is how they know the claim history of customers. That make sure a customer cannot buy an insurance, make claims and buy another insurance next year without losing the NCB!

On a positive note, the calls from different companies will help a customer to obtain a competitive insurance quote. I have successfully negotiated and obtained a very good quote from Bajaj Allianz, as I had 2 other quotes from other insurance companies.

[fine69]

I've had insurance from one of the 4 semi-govt insurance companies and haven't received a single call in the past 4 years of car ownership. Is it just the pvt companies then?

For other telemarketing calls/sms India Against Spam is very effective. They've sent confirmations to me everytime they take action against a number. For blocking calls/sms Call Blacklist is the most effective Android App (author Vlad Lee).

[aaren]

a. As Alto99 wrote, register your number in the DNC registry.
b. Telemarketers are supposed to call only from specific numbers and not from any office or mobile numbers. If they do, once your complaint goes to TRAI, the office from where the call has emanated can be given stiff punishment. I know, because, telephone lines of one of the branches of my company got cut off because of this reason.
c. When I get a call, I ask the caller as to how they got the number and tell them that am registered with DNC. If they proceed further, I tell them that I will report them to TRAI.
d. On an average, I get about 1 telemarketing calls in 2 months.

Hope this helps.

[kingofmyworld]

So it's not just me who is suffering with this menace. I have 3 vehicles on my name and their policies expiry dates are spread across the year. (march, august, december)

I check for the best possible quote and there starts the calling spree by the insurance companies. So more or less every single day there is some or the other person calling me offering quotes for my cars/bike. The most annoying part is when different people call me from the same insurance company and asking me to pick them over the other agent. I always have done my policies online and never through tele sales. I tell them the same but they never stop calling me.

Originally Posted by fine69

I've had insurance from one of the 4 semi-govt insurance companies and haven't received a single call in the past 4 years of car ownership. Is it just the pvt companies then?

For other telemarketing calls/sms India Against Spam is very effective. They've sent confirmations to me every time they take action against a number. For blocking calls/sms Call Blacklist is the most effective Android App (author Vlad Lee).

The answer to your question is in the question itself. Most of the semi-govt insurance companies aren't aggressive about selling or settling policies/claims. So unless you approach them, they really don't care.
I've dealt with most semi-govt insurance companies and not a single instance where I had a peaceful/stressful experience. Worst was new india insurance where I had to do multiple trips to their office to get a claim settled. Took around 40 days to close a claim of "20k INR" for my bike.