An allegation of grave systemic harassment and deceptive practices has emerged against the multinational insurer MetLife Insurance in Bangladesh, following claims that the company has repeatedly withheld a legitimate insurance payout following a policyholder’s death. The nominee of the deceased, who has been attempting to settle a claim amounting to 4.4 million Bangladeshi taka (approx. £30,000) for four years, alleges that the insurer is attempting to resolve the substantial matter by offering a paltry settlement of just 44,000 taka (approx. £300).
The serious accusations were brought forward on Sunday, 26 July, during a crowded press conference hosted at the Maulana Mohammad Akram Kha Hall of the National Press Club in Dhaka. Speaking to reporters, Mst. Chumki Akter, hailing from Santahar in Bogura district, detailed the administrative ordeal she has endured since the death of her father, the late policyholder Jalal Hossain.
Allegations of Misleading Tactics and Withheld Sums
According to the written statement delivered by Akter, her father had taken out a comprehensive life insurance policy with MetLife. In 2022, after making two consecutive monthly premium payments of approximately 22,000 taka each, Jalal Hossain passed away suddenly. Following his death, Akter, as the designated nominee, fulfilled all official requirements and submitted the requisite documentation to claim the full policy sum of 4.4 million taka.
However, MetLife subsequently issued a formal rejection letter, asserting that incorrect information had been provided during the initial policy application, rendering the claim invalid under their contractual terms. Akter contested this claim, highlighting that her father held simultaneous insurance and savings products with other financial institutions, including Guardian Life Insurance and the state-owned Sonali Bank. Both entities settled their respective death claims and savings returns promptly, without legal complications or procedural delay.
Frustrated by the impasse, Akter engaged legal counsel and served a formal legal notice to the insurer. Shortly thereafter, during a visit to MetLife’s principal office in Motijheel, Dhaka, she was met by an official identified as Mr Ali. She alleges that this representative advised her against pursuing formal litigation, persuaded her to sign a non-judicial stamp worth 300 taka, and collected details for a newly opened bank account under the guise of processing the settlement.
Regulatory Inaction and Appeals for Justice
It was subsequently revealed through her legal team that the documentation prepared by MetLife was structured to refund merely 44,000 taka—the equivalent of the premiums paid—rather than the actual sum assured of 4.4 million taka. When challenged, the official reportedly stated that only the lesser amount would be remitted to her account.
“I never gave consent to accept 44,000 taka,” Akter stated during the briefing. “That sum was merely the total premium my father had paid. MetLife is using deceptive tactics to return a small premium amount while suppressing the legitimate 4.4 million taka insurance claim.”
Akter further alleged that when she protested against the arrangement, the official refused to return her father’s original policy documents, instructed her to proceed through her lawyers, and subsequently blocked the family’s telephone numbers to sever communication entirely.
Despite lodging formal written complaints with the regulatory authorities—including the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) of Bangladesh—the family reports that no effective remedy or administrative sanction has been issued to date. The bereaved family has formally called for an independent, impartial investigation into MetLife and the implicated personnel, urging immediate legal and governmental intervention to enforce the settlement of the original claim.