The Financial Services Council (FSC) in Australia is supporting no hawking of insurance, saying pressure selling insurance products, over the phone or otherwise, is unacceptable.
FSC CEO, Sally Loane, says insurers should not be able to cold-call people with the view to sell life insurance or consumer credit insurance.
“There is no place for cold calling and pressuring random people into buying a life insurance product they don’t need, want or understand,” Loane said.
“There is no place for cold calling and pressuring random people into buying a life insurance product they don’t need, want or understand.”
“For an outbound call to be justified, a person must first have given their positive, clear and informed consent, before being contacted.
She added: “Additionally, given there is no legislated time frame in which calls need to be made, the FSC believes an initial call should be made within three months of consent.
“It is important to note that the industry has already made significant improvements through better use of monitoring and oversight, through remuneration practices, appropriate incentives, culture, training and the FSC Life Insurance Code of Practice.
Loane explained these anti-hawking measures make sure that conduct on all calls is at the highest standards.
The FSC submission is in response to Recommendation 4.1 of the Financial Services Royal Commission, that hawking of insurance products should be prohibited.