Like insurance but not insurance?

Who will manage the network mutual aid products such as "Huhebao"

Half-month talk reporter Hu Jiefeilan Tianming

　　"One person gets sick, everyone shares it", "0 yuan to join, the maximum guarantee amount is 300,000"... In recent years, under the promotion of venture capital and Internet companies, the network mutual aid plan that shouts such publicity has ushered in the peak of launch.

However, a survey by the reporter of Banyue Tan found that most of the network mutual aid plan products have management defects in terms of member access, clause interpretation, mutual aid payment, etc., and comprehensive supervision is urgently needed.

1 Join the meeting in a silly way, and deduct fees silently,

"Being mutual help" feels bad

　　Recently, when Ms. Li in Beijing checked the Alipay bill, she accidentally discovered that her Alipay account has two small fixed deductions every month, and the deduction cycle lasts for more than one year. The deduction originates from Hudongbao.

Ms. Li didn't remember when she joined Huhubao, and she never received a reminder of the deduction.

　　After carefully comparing the bills, Ms. Li also found that the amount of mutual deductions automatically increased every month, compared with the monthly deduction a year ago, it has now nearly doubled.

　　Ms. Li expressed her dissatisfaction with the non-remind practice of Xiang Hubao’s deduction for more than one year: “I can receive at least one text message or an e-certificate when I participate in online donations, but this so-called mutual assistance program is almost invisible.”

　　In addition, Ms. Li pointed out that Xiang Hubao, an online mutual aid project that is highly similar to an electronic insurance policy, has no obvious exit reminder on the main page, "The main page is all advertisements. I found the exit exit through Baidu."

2 Willful modification of the terms and no compensation for illness

Network mutual assistance is very domineering

　　Network mutual assistance is a mutual assistance community based on the Internet platform.

Joining members have agreed in advance that if there is an agreed accident, major disease and other risk events, other members need to share the mutual aid.

Since joining fees and entry barriers are far lower than traditional critical illness insurance and commercial insurance, various network mutual assistance programs have attracted a large number of users.

　　However, various disputes occur from time to time under the huge user group.

Mr. Tang from Anhui told the reporter of Banyue Tan that his wife joined Hu Hu Bao before 2018. At that time, Hu Hu Bao’s critical illness mutual assistance clause included thyroid cancer. By October 2019, when his wife was hospitalized for thyroid cancer and sought to share the expenses, Bao refused to compensate on the grounds that during the period of his wife’s enrollment, Xiang Hubao had redefined the diseases covered in the terms and deleted the article “papillary or follicular thyroid cancer without distant metastasis”.

　　The reporter's inquiry found that in April 2019, Hulubao changed its rules once to classify mild thyroid cancer and prostate cancer as mild; 8 months later, the provisions of Huhubao rule excluded mild thyroid cancer and mild thyroid cancer. Prostate cancer protection.

　　Ms. Zhang from Qinhuangdao also encountered something that puzzled her.

Ms. Zhang, who joined Xiang Hu Bao, was diagnosed with breast cancer in June this year and applied for compensation.

However, Xiang Hu Bao Yi Ms. Zhang had tachycardia during her two pregnancies in 2011 and 2017 and refused to pay.

"What does tachycardia have to do with breast cancer?" Ms. Zhang said.

　　In this regard, Xianghebao customer service stated that according to the terms of the platform, natural persons are required to have no "heart disease" medical treatment before joining the mutual aid plan, and as long as they have two arrhythmia, they are classified as having "heart disease" and cannot apply for compensation.

　　It is reported that at present Ms. Zhang hopes to be able to appeal through the mutual treasure jury, but the staff said that due to the "reason for rejection", the possibility of joining the jury is unlikely.

　　In this regard, Guo Yutao, a partner of Beijing Gefeng Law Firm, said that the platform did not do a background check when the user entered, and only when the user applied for a claim did it inform that it was not possible to settle the claim, which was indeed wrong.

In addition, although the relevant provisions of Xiang Hubao clarify that natural persons are not required to seek medical treatment for "heart disease" before joining the mutual aid program, heart disease cannot be a box, and everything is thrown into it.

3 It is not insurance, not for public welfare,

Online mutual assistance is "embarrassing"

　　The scale of the industry has been increasing, but when it comes to the nature of the product, whether there is a counterpart management department, and operating rules, the situation has become awkward.

For example, the civil affairs department has repeatedly conveyed the message that online mutual aid is not a social welfare, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has also repeatedly interviewed online mutual aid platforms, pointing out that online mutual aid is not mutual insurance and cannot replace commercial insurance.

　　In fact, most network mutual aid products currently on the market do not have an insurance license.

Ant Financial, which promotes Hu Hu Bao, even wrote in its prospectus preparing for listing: "If Hu Hu Bao fails to meet compliance requirements for various reasons, Hu Hu Bao will divest its business."

　　However, in the eyes of users, network mutual aid products are too much like insurance.

Netizen "Taotao" complained: Hu Hubao's basic operation model is very similar to traditional insurance.

　　Guo Yutao also believes that many current network mutual aid plans are not very different from insurance products, and the boundaries are blurred, which is very confusing.

"There are few researchers on the legal nature of mutual assistance on the Internet. This is a huge contrast to the status quo of rapid expansion."

　　More importantly, the regulatory vacuum has made user rights protection a big problem.

"The management of the mutual assistance platform feels like'outside the three realms and not among the five elements'." A patient with esophageal cancer said that he tried to defend his rights because of doubts about the platform's judgment, but the process was difficult.

　　The patient first complained to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, but the staff member stated that Xiang Hubao is a mutual assistance platform and is not managed by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

"We also thought of using the weapon of law to protect our legitimate rights and interests. After inquiring about a number of courts, we were told that we should go to the Hangzhou West Lake Court to sue, and we entrusted a lawyer to get an inadmissible reply."

　　The Banyuetan reporter found that the dispute resolution clause in the "Huahebao Member Rules" stated: "If negotiation fails, you can file a lawsuit with the people's court where these rules are signed. The place where these rules are signed: Xihu District, Hangzhou."

　　Guo Yutao said that this clause means that if 108 million people who participated in mutual treasures and mutual assistance have to sue, more than 100 million people will flock to the local court in Xihu District, Hangzhou. No matter how you look at it, this is not what a basic court can do. Bearable.

4 To make "look beautiful" to "be more beautiful to use", supervision must be in place

　　According to a survey conducted by Nankai University, as of October 2020, Xiang Hu Bao has assisted more than 70,000 families, and has issued more than 10.8 billion mutual aid funds; Drip Mutual Aid has assisted more than 14,000 families, and cumulatively distributed more than 1.7 billion mutual aid funds. yuan.

According to data, there are more than 70 people in Water Drop Mutual Assistance from third-tier cities and below, and their monthly income does not exceed 5,000 yuan.

　　Needless to say, although the legal status of online mutual assistance is not clear, it still solves to a certain extent social issues such as "poverty due to illness" or "return to poverty due to illness", and takes care of groups that cannot be covered by ordinary commercial insurance.

　　However, if an industry wants long-term and healthy development, it must eliminate the fundamental risks of industry development.

The issue of industry sustainability is worthy of attention.

The article "Analysis of Illegal Commercial Insurance Activities and Suggestions for Countermeasures" recently released by the Anti-Fraud Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stated: "Some network mutual assistance platforms have a large number of members and are non-licensed operations. Risks cannot be ignored. Some pre-charging model platforms have formed precipitation. Funds have the risk of running away. If they are not handled properly or managed, they may also cause social risks."

　　Chen Xinlei, a marketing professor at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, believes that from an economic perspective, once more high-risk groups join the mutual aid plan, the cost of compensation will rise sharply, which will cause some members to withdraw from the plan, thereby driving up the remaining members. The cost of compensation eventually led to the unsustainability of the entire mutual aid plan.

　　Judging from the existing network mutual aid plans, in addition to adopting the form of "post-assessment", many platforms still adopt the form of "prepayment". For example, part of the mutual aid plan launched by Quark Alliance and Water Drop Mutual Aid requires members to pay 10 yuan in advance. Costs ranging from RMB 30.

Taking into account the huge number of members, whether this will lead to "running off", or is unknown.

　　In the competition with commercial insurance, network mutual assistance is "playing games outside the rules."

An insurance product designer told Banyuetan reporters that regulatory agencies have strict requirements on insurance companies in terms of liability reserves and solvency adequacy ratios.

Insurance companies need to establish a solvency supervision system in accordance with international practices.

"But it is clear that online mutual assistance is not strictly bound by insurance regulators and insurance rules."

　　The person in charge of a large domestic insurance company said that for China with a large population base, the network mutual assistance platform is still very important, and the Chinese insurance market can fully accommodate various forms of risk protection at different stages of development.

"But the prerequisite for development is compliance and legality. Especially for those mutual assistance platforms that do not have to pay out-of-pocket capital commitments, risk warning and information disclosure should be completely transparent. Otherwise, it is not insurance, unregulated, and no capital. It is misleading to have to package one's propaganda as insurance."

　　Li Xiaolin, Dean of the School of Insurance of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that once an agreement involves the rights and obligations of the public, then the value and cost of the agreement need to be evaluated and disclosed to the public.

In this process, necessary and reliable mechanisms, rather than simple verbal promises or corporate goodwill, are crucial.

(Published in the 23rd issue of "Ban Yue Tan" in 2020, the original title "Unknowingly deductions, willful changes in terms, illnesses difficult to claim: like insurance but not insurance, who will manage the network mutual assistance")