Insurance companies "sell insurance and give gifts" are not flattering
"Send" will be punished by supervision and "not honored" will be complained by consumers
Our reporter Leng Cuihua
Giving policyholders benefits other than those stipulated in the insurance contract has always been one of the important reasons for the administrative punishment of insurance institutions.
According to information released by the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission (hereinafter referred to as the "Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission") recently, many consumers have complained about the failure of the insurance company to deliver the card.
On the surface, it seems very wrong that the insurance company is angry at both ends because of "giving gifts".
One was punished by regulators for illegally giving gift cards, etc.; the other was complained by consumers because the gifts were "inappropriate".
For this phenomenon, people in the industry generally believe that the root cause of "gifting" is that insurance institutions are dependent on expenses.
To solve this problem, we must rely on the promotion of strict supervision.
The promise of sending the card is not fulfilled, which leads to complaints
The Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission recently announced that it will accept 271 auto insurance complaints in 2021, of which 120 are concentrated in auto insurance sales, accounting for 44%.
Consumer complaints mainly include: the underwriting company's promise to send cards is not fulfilled, and the value-added services are not worthy of the name.
This shows that many consumers think that the "gift" provided by insurance companies is unreal, and they have great opinions on this.
Li Shitong, co-founder of BestLawyers, told a reporter from Securities Daily that the "Administrative Measures for the Handling of Consumer Complaints in the Banking and Insurance Industry" released in 2020 clarifies that banking and insurance institutions are responsible for handling consumer complaints. Supervise the handling of consumer complaints by insurance institutions.
Under normal circumstances, consumers should first complain to the insurance company when they complain about insurance consumption; if they do not get a response from the insurance company or the consumer is not satisfied with the response, they should complain to the insurance supervision department.
Judging from the total number of complaints, the insurance complaints received by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee are only a small part of the total number of complaints, but the problems they reflect are quite representative.
According to the insurance consumer complaints reported by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission in the fourth quarter of 2021, there were 9,082 complaints from property insurance companies involving motor vehicle insurance disputes, accounting for 63.75% of the total complaints from property insurance companies.
It can be seen that the proportion of complaints and disputes in auto insurance consumption is relatively large.
In addition, it is not uncommon for insurance companies and insurance intermediaries to be punished frequently by regulators for giving consumers benefits beyond those agreed in their contracts.
For example, the Xinjiang Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau recently fined the Xinjiang branch of Shanghai Guanghui Detai Insurance Agency Co., Ltd. 500,000 yuan and ordered the company to stop accepting new business for two months.
After investigation, from January 2018 to July 2019, the insurance agency paid 33 institutions including Xinjiang Tianhui Huachi Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd. and Xinjiang Tianhui Huasen Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd. by compiling false consultation fees. A total of 19,813,300 yuan was paid for consulting services, and the above expenses were actually used to pay for labor costs and to present renewal gift packages to renewal customers.
Industry insiders generally say that it is a common problem in the industry that insurance companies and insurance intermediaries present gift packages to customers under various names, and it is not uncommon for insurance institutions to receive administrative penalties for this.
The gift promise itself is a violation
On the surface, it seems very wrong that the insurance company is angry at both ends because of "giving gifts".
If the insurance company does not send it, consumers will be dissatisfied, thinking that the insurance company does not honor its promise; if the insurance company sends it, the regulator will be dissatisfied, and once it is verified that there is a gift-giving behavior, it will be punished.
Why can merchants give gifts to consumers when they buy cosmetics, clothing and other commodities?
And when the insurance company gives gifts outside the consumer contract, is it a violation of the law?
When an insurance company promises a consumer to give gifts such as cards and coupons but fails to honor it, should the consumer's claim to honor the promise be supported?
Li Shitong believes that insurance policies are different from general commodities that "pay with one hand and deliver with one hand". Insurance is a financial product. Whether it is product pricing, product sales, or underwriting claims, it faces stricter regulatory policies.
According to the "Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China", insurance companies and their staff shall not give or promise to give insurance premiums rebates or other benefits other than those stipulated in the insurance contracts for policyholders, insureds and beneficiaries in their insurance business activities.
In order to promote industry compliance and fair competition, the "Key Points of Operation of Property Insurance Companies for Motor Vehicle Insurance Value-Added Services" issued by the Insurance Association of China in 2017 stipulates that each insurance company can choose to provide consumers with insurance within the relevant scope according to its own actual conditions. Provide auto insurance value-added services, but shall not give away negotiable securities in the form of driving coupons.
However, according to the review of insurance complaints by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission, there are still three obvious problems in the current auto insurance sales process: first, the card is delivered in a dark box, and the fairness is questioned; Third, the value-added services have many names, and the actual name is not worthy of the name.
"In the auto insurance sales process, the information about 'not to send', 'how much to send' and 'what to send' is asymmetric, and sending cards has become a 'black box', and consumers generally question the fairness of sending cards in a black box." Shanghai The Consumer Protection Committee stated that the promise of sending the card is made through the oral promise of the salesperson.
From a legal point of view, Li Shitong believes that the commitment of the insurance company and its staff to send the card is itself a violation.
Therefore, it is difficult for consumers to claim that insurance companies fulfill their verbal card delivery commitments and get legal support.
How to carry out orderly competition including price in the insurance field is a very professional issue.
The Shanghai Consumer Insurance Commission suggested that the insurance authorities should take practical and effective measures to urge insurance companies to implement relevant regulations, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of auto insurance consumers, and jointly promote fair consumption.
Expense dependence is still not cured
As professional practitioners, insurance companies should know that giving benefits outside the contract is a violation of laws and regulations. Why do insurance companies risk giving gifts?
Why is there a discount when the policy lands?
From the consumer's point of view, can gift-giving really benefit them?
The person in charge of auto insurance of a property insurance company told the "Securities Daily" reporter that in the past, insurance companies mainly relied on two magic weapons to seize the market: one is to fight channel fees; the other is to give consumers cards and coupons.
With the continuous advancement of auto insurance reform, the competition in the insurance market has continued to be standardized in recent years, but the inertial thinking of some insurance companies is still there.
At the same time, some insurance institutions are still under operating pressure, and their primary goal is still to charge premiums.
According to the person, with the advancement of the comprehensive reform of auto insurance, the upper limit of the auto insurance premium rate has been further compressed, and the auto insurance business pressure of insurance companies has become greater, and cost saving has become very important. In the case of cashing out or even going back directly”, some gifts are even more serious.
In addition, some sales staff made verbal promises in order to win the policy, but after signing the policy, due to the regulatory environment, they dared not honor the "promise", which led to consumer dissatisfaction.
Li Shitong believes that the benefits that insurance companies donate outside the contract are essentially "wool comes from sheep", and consumers seem to be getting benefits, but they are not.
When "whether to send" and "how much to send" become the content of private negotiation, consumers have lost the fairness of consumption.
The additional cost given by insurance companies will eventually be transferred to all consumers, who will pay for it together.
The current supervision of insurance companies is relatively strict, and the supervision of insurance intermediaries, especially insurance agencies, is relatively loose, which is also unfair.
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen market supervision, to eradicate the chronic diseases of the insurance industry through industry reform and external supervision, and to promote fair competition in the market.
(Securities Daily)