Insuranceisasubjectmatterofsolicitation

What does it mean?

For being the second largest word in the English language (/s), after mutualfundinvestmentsaresubjecttomarketrisks, Insuranceis… is not understood by a majority of the masses. And wrongly understood by almost everyone else.

I was among those unaware of what this meant. And I set off on a Google quest.

The answer was unanimous: Since “solicit” means “to ask for”, the phrase means that insurance cannot be sold, but must be asked for by the customer.

Wait. What?

That makes no sense. And let’s just say it did — why would the regulatory body put such a rule and then blatantly turn a blind eye to outright violations?

So, I delved deeper. With the help of a few wise men on the interntet, I found the original notification from IRDA which asked for this disclaimer in the first place.

Point 9 of the document says,

Every advertisement for insurance shall
(i) state clearly and unequivocally that insurance is the subject matter of the solicitation; and
(ii) state the full registered name of the insurer/ intermediary/ insurance agent.

It’s “the subject matter of the solicitation” and not “a subject matter”. Articles change everything. Also, in a number of instances through the document, the word “solicitation” clearly refers to advertisements or promotion. It’s a classic case of Chinese whispers.

So, what does it really mean?

Using the above argument, the phrase implies that the prime product being advertised is insurance. Most insurance advertisements focus on the usage of a policy a means to save tax and a guaranteed-return investment.

The authority wants to ensure that the customer understands that these are peripheral outcomes and the “insurance” purpose remains central.

What is amazing is the degree to which the internet has become an echo chamber. Someone floated a plausible explanation, another site copied it and then a thousand more. Google firmly believes that you cannot fool all of the people all of the time — so the majority must be right.

Google, like Scotty, doesn’t know.

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