Unwanted phone calls
How to protect yourself from unwanted phone calls
Sympany wants to be a trustworthy and fair partner to all those who take out insurance with it. That's why it phones its customers up from time to time, for example, to tell them about opportunities for enhancing existing policies or for saving money with them. It also picks up the phone to make contact as part of the "Recommend a Friend" programme. However, Sympany does not phone potential customers whom it wishes to acquire or do new business with unless the customer or potential customer has expressed the explicit wish that it should do so.
Again and again, though, private individuals have to contend with phone calls that turn out to be covert attempts at winning new business for health insurers. Such calls are generally made from call centres, with the aim of arranging as many appointments with advisors as possible. Regrettably, some of them also resort to improper methods, claiming, for example, to be calling on behalf of information centres or conducting surveys of residents, and sometimes, indeed, to be representing Sympany. Nor are they averse to giving out even more false information.
What is Sympany doing about this?
Like all health insurers, Sympany works with intermediaries. However, it cannot, and will not, tolerate improper methods. That's why it requires its partner intermediaries to refrain from using the phone to win new customers and from commissioning third parties, such as brokers or call centres, to do so. If there are indications that someone is failing to comply with this agreement, Sympany investigates. If the suspicion is confirmed, Sympany will terminate the contract with the guilty intermediary.
What we advise you to do
If you're getting drawn into a conversation you don't want to be in, please bear the following in mind:
- Don't make any appointments.
- Don't answer questions about your income or health, the members of your family, your insurance arrangements, and so on.
- Don't correct anything the caller says; most of what these people say is bluff, said with the aim of getting at the real information.
- Counter their questions with some of your own; ask them, for example, where they got your number from. It's often at that point that they'll end the call.
- Make a note of the name, the firm, the date, the time and the phone number, and pass this information on to our Customer Service team. This is the only way we can track down intermediaries who aren't playing by the rules.
If you have any questions, or if anything's unclear, our Customer Service team will be happy to help.