User:Pheenyphret/sandbox

Recent Issues
Over the past years, the Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Company has been mentioned in several blogs as being a "scam" due to the actions of their sales agents, who happen to not be employees of the PPLIC; rather, these are employed by an independent contractor. These agents would mislead the clients into thinking that they would merely introduce the company to the client within 45 minutes only and that the client would not have to purchase anything. However, the presentation would often exceed the allotted time limit and the presenter would tire out the client with various arguments until the client gives in and buys one of their endowment plans.

In a letter addressed to a dissatisfied client Mr. RODOLFO C. ESTRERA, Head of the Corporate Communication Office, said:

"Two years ago, when you wrote your post about Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Company, Inc. (PPLIC), you probably did not realize that PPLIC agents are not employees of our Company; they are independent contractors. This does not excuse unfair sales practices, however, and so as a result of your blog post, we began to regulate the agents more closely. We now have customer service staff (full time employees of our Company) stationed at all of our retail sales offices. Their job is to interview every customer before they purchase insurance to ensure that the sales presentation was fair to them and that they are not asked to do anything against their will.

Given that life insurance is not something that most people think about when visiting a shopping mall, we do approach potential customers and ask them if they would like to be entered into a raffle draw to win a car or other big-ticket prizes (e.g., cash and trips abroad). By simply attending the presentation, they are entered in the raffle. No purchase is required. Interestingly, many of our actual raffle winners did not purchase insurance from PPLIC. While most of the winners do not wish to be identified or publicized (for personal safety/security reasons), we do have a couple of individuals who are willing to speak to you about their experience, should you wish."

A former employee of one of these independent contractors has also sent a letter of apology to one of her former clients, after she had resigned from the contractor. In it, she stated that they had to resort to this kind of marketing tactics to get clients or else they would get scolded at the end of the day by their boss if they didn't get a client.

This issue has led to a guide on how to cancel one's PPLIC Insurance Purchase. Since the PPLIC is a legitimate company, the money is usually returned, albeit, after a 20-30 day period.