INSURANCE ADVISER
He is Sam Philip. He is a general insurance adviser. He provides yeoman service to his clients.
We became acquainted in the year 2005. It was for my vehicle's insurance. The service was superb. He delivered the policy at my house. When the policy was up for renewal, he ensured that it had been renewed in time. When there was a claim, he did everything for the disbursal of the amount claimed. His dedication had often made him go for the extra mile.
Later, I referred him to my friends and my sons. There was no let up. He extended similar service to all of them. He kept them all happy. My elder son once told me no one would provide the exceptional service Sam provided. He should know, for he himself was no stranger to the insurance business.
On the 15th of May 2026, Sam delivered the renewed insurance policy for our Maruti Swift at my home.
I presented him a copy of the book, A WALK THROUGH THE RAIN, a collection of my own blogposts published by the KUT Seminary, Kannammoola, Trivandrum and told him that whatever it made was for them. I advised him in case he wished to make any contribution, it may be remitted to the publisher as I was grateful to them for launching me as an author.
Sam replied he would do that later as he had recently donated Rs.5.00 lakh for the renovation of his own Church. He added he had felt his contribution was insufficient. It conveyed his greatness as I knew he was not rich.
I could see emotions welling up on his face. He reminisced. He said, when he had invited me for his house- warming ceremony, he had requested me to bring nothing else but a book as a gift. Suddenly, I remembered. I felt guilty I didn't respond to his suggestion for years together. But Sam was magnanimous. He said he was accepting this book in lieu of the delayed gift.
It was 3.45pm. He had to be at the bank before 4.00pm to collect the cash for the premium he had remitted on my behalf. I reminded him he had to move fast.
But he stood there. He said he had to tell me something else before he left. He conveyed he had always loved to spend sometime with me whenever he had called at my residence for business. According to him, he had always gained something from the discussions on his visits.
He revealed that several years ago on one of his visits, I had suggested that he ought to open a PPF - Public Provident Account - account with any Branch of SBI of his choice and make periodic remittances to the account. He recollected, I had explained that it was a 15 year deposit scheme with a handsome rate of interest and income tax incentives along with an option to renew it at 5 year intervals on maturity.
He said he went for the PPF as he was not a member of any pension scheme. He had felt he should have access to a sizeable sum when he reached 56 years of age that had been the retirement age for government servants in Kerala. I was happy when he mentioned the PPF account had a credit balance of Rs.22.00 lakhs inclusive of accumulated interest.
Sam said he had planned to visit me when the balance reached Rs.25.00 lakhs, but he had thought this was the right time to tell me the happy news.
He parted and in ten minutes the message of debit to the account came up on my phone.
As he left, I told Lila that it had been more than 20 years since Sam had come into our lives. He was never hesitant to extend his services even in the tortuous days of Covid. I remembered the funeral of his mother I had attended. The whole family had been immersed in grief. His son could not hold back the tears that flowed.
I was indeed happy my advice didnot go in vain. I recalled, in a long span of three and a half decades there had been many people like Sam in my life who had profited by my suggestions. They were mostly financial as I had been a banker. But many of them deviated from the banking sphere. They extended across issues people were grappling with in real life.
I am happy they have learned from me. I am happy I have learned from them.
The gain has been mutual.
Posts
