More than half of life insurance companies in many provinces across the country have encountered malicious complaints about "full surrender"
The insurance industry was "hunted" by black products
Editor's note: Complaints are meant to empower consumers to protect their legitimate rights and interests. However, in some financial fields, methods such as entanglement and repeated malicious complaints are becoming tools for illegal arbitrage, and some have even formed a complete black industry chain. The financial risks caused by malicious complaints are on the rise, affecting the operating order of banking, insurance and other financial industries, and seriously harming the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Nanfang Daily and Nanfang + Client launched the "anti-collection" series of reports in January this year, and today launched the "malicious surrender" investigation. Please note.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in May, Qiu Ling (pseudonym) regretted it. Last year, a surrender agent "instructed" her to continuously complain to the regulatory authorities. In the end, she refunded a life insurance product with additional critical illness insurance purchased a few years ago in full, and the agent drew 30% of the surrender amount As a handling fee.
However, Qiu Ling was unfortunately diagnosed with breast cancer afterwards. Without insurance protection, she had to pay for the high cost of treatment at her own expense. Qiu Ling's experience is very typical: Under the intensified "full surrender agent", insurance consumers make full surrender of the insurance by malicious complaints, but it harms their own interests.
The reporter's investigation found that it was a "full surrender" to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but it became a loophole for some people to make profits. From obtaining customer information, to encouraging customer complaints and complaints on behalf of customers, to putting pressure on regulatory authorities and bancassurance institutions, malicious complaints have now formed a complete industrial chain and are spreading across the country.
Authoritative data obtained exclusively by the reporter from the regulatory authorities shows that in 2019, this phenomenon has spread to more than half of life insurance companies in many provinces across the country. According to incomplete statistics, in the past three years, life insurance companies suspected of receiving more than 18,000 malicious complaints and reports, involving an insurance policy amount of 340 million yuan, and showing the characteristics of industrialization of operation mode, networking of propaganda methods, and spreading trend.
● Nanfang Daily reporter Chen Ying Zhang Yanli Hualian
Surrender Agent
Set up a "touch porcelain" insurance company
50% handling fee for successful surrender
According to the insurance law, consumers have a period of "hesitation period" during the initial period of insuring. During this period, the insurance company needs to refund the full amount; once the hesitation period is exceeded, only the "cash value" part of the policy is returned. Often only about half of the principal.
However, in recent years, some individuals or organizations have used "malicious complaints" to force insurance companies to surrender the insurance in an abnormal manner under the guise of helping customers defend their rights in order to achieve the purpose of full surrender.
Reporters found many shops marked with "insurance rights protection" and "surrender consultation" on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Xianyu; on live broadcast platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, various "full surrender" tutorials appeared endlessly.
On the grounds of "surrendering the insurance", the reporter contacted a number of "full surrendering" agents. "No matter you buy any type of insurance from any insurance company in any region of the country, you can unconditionally surrender the insurance in full." "Safe and fast, 100% successful refund" "There is only one chance to surrender the insurance, and professional matters are left to professional people." ". Almost every agent uses similar words, emphasizing their ability to "surrender the insurance in full."
Sharing success stories publicly is a common way for them to attract customers. "Customer 90,000 yuan refund received" "Another customer successfully surrendered 96,500 yuan in full." Agent Xiao Gao's circle of friends has screened screenshots and insurance policies of refunds received every day.
Once you go to consult, the policyholder falls into a deeper trap.
"The product is not good, you should surrender it as soon as possible." After reading the insurance policy presented by the reporter, the so-called "professional insurance planner" in the Xiaogao team gave surrender suggestions. After confirming the surrender, Xiao Gao asked the reporter to provide his ID card, insurance policy, mobile phone number, address and other information as soon as possible.
During the investigation, an agent asked reporters to sign an "insurance consulting service agreement" or an "intermediary service agreement" and to pay a deposit ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 yuan. In addition, Xiao Gao told reporters that 30% to 50% of the surrender amount is generally charged as a handling fee. The reporter calculated an account. Taking a protection insurance with an annual payment of 20,000 yuan and a 10-year payment as an example, its cash value is about 60,000 yuan, which is the refundable amount under the normal process; The "agent surrender" through malicious complaints, if the full premium of 200,000 yuan is successfully returned, a handling fee of 60,000 to 100,000 yuan will be charged.
However, to achieve full surrender, the key is to obtain "evidence" that the insurance company is at fault. Xiao Gao inspired a reporter: "Recall that when you bought it, did the sales staff give you rebates and gifts?"
He later revealed that once they became their customers, the team would send "professionals" to teach the skills of "fishing for evidence". "In short, it is to find out the problems of the insurance company. We can also teach you how to make them make mistakes."
When the reporter raised difficulties, Xiaogao further "guided": "It doesn't matter if the fishing is unsuccessful. We can provide a complaint template, write a complaint letter and send it to the supervisory department to "touch porcelain". Insurance companies are most afraid of complaints."
Compared with Xiaogao, there is an agency team with higher fees. "We will write a letter of complaint, send a letter, and'interact' for you and the company. If the regulatory authority or the insurance company asks you, just hang up." The surrender agent told reporters that fully authorizing them to deal with can increase the full amount. Surrender success rate. "Because insurance companies are most afraid of complaints, they will try to persuade customers to withdraw their complaints, and the agents are well-trained and do not accept'bargaining'." As long as the full refund is made, most insurance companies will compromise.
A person in charge of an insurance company in Guangdong revealed that for insurance companies, if a large number of cases are not withdrawn within a certain period of time, they will enter the supervision and investigation stage, and the insurance supervision department will invest a lot of manpower and material resources to deal with it. Under the greater pressure of complaints and assessment, insurance companies sometimes have no choice but to surrender the insurance in full. The surrender agent can be said to seize the pain points and accurately "snipe".
Insurance company
"Undercover" by criminals
Damaged more than 120 million yuan in half a year
"Preliminary estimates indicate that several large insurance companies in Guangdong have encountered more than 3,800 malicious surrender cases this year, involving more than 120 million yuan." Jiang Ping (a pseudonym), an executive of a life insurance company in Guangdong, told reporters. Guangdong is the country’s largest insurance market. Since the beginning of this year, the number of suspected “malicious complaints” cases officially transferred by various insurance companies under supervision has increased sharply. The person in charge of an insurance company told reporters that taking the company’s Guangdong branch as an example, in the second quarter of this year, Such cases have increased by 5 times.
The reporter learned from the Guangdong Provincial Local Financial Risk Monitoring and Control Center that after monitoring the "malicious surrender", the reporter found that the "surrender agent" had a short active period in the Yangtze River Delta in 2018. After targeted attacks by the regulatory authorities Belong to silence. However, the monitoring of an insurance company in Guangdong showed that in the second half of 2019, "agent surrender" expanded from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai to Guangdong, Guiqiong, and some areas were sinking to third- and fourth-tier cities. "55% of the complaints in the first five months of this year came from Guangzhou and Shenzhen," Jiang Ping told reporters.
The monitoring data of the Guangdong Provincial Local Financial Risk Monitoring and Control Center supports this point. According to the big data monitoring of the center, from May to June this year, "agent surrender" has entered a peak period on the Internet. Monitoring data shows that Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the main areas where surrender information is released.
The reporter's investigation found that the current "agent surrender" has formed a complete industrial chain, shifting from individual operations to corporate operations, presenting features such as specialization of techniques, expansion of channels, grouping of organizations, and goals of interest.
Jiang Ping discovered that criminals even began to perform "infernal Affairs" drama. In order to shorten the profit cycle, they began to arrange people to "undercover".
"The'surrender agent' premeditatedly arranged for people to work in major insurance companies in rotation, deliberately reserved evidence during the sales process, and resigned after earning a wave of commissions, and then contacted and encouraged the customer to surrender the insurance in full, and surrender the insurance through the collection agent Fees make a profit twice." Jiang Ping told reporters that such "undercover" even a group of as many as a dozen people.
In addition to "undercover", some "agent surrender" teams also solicit customers under the guise of regulatory authorities and insurance companies. "A core member of the surrender agent team inadvertently revealed that his members are hiding in the suburbs of Guangzhou. There are already more than 200 people who have illegally bought and sold company customer information and assigned them to those with strong sales ability under the guise of the company's after-sales service personnel. Come to the door and illegally mislead customers to buy new orders in order to earn commissions." Jiang Ping told reporters that the "agent surrender" team has clear part of the workforce, and someone is responsible for identifying and recruiting business experts; the team leader is responsible for providing a list and tracking commission performance; remote outbound calls The personnel are responsible for inviting customers to visit and dispatch tasks; the on-site personnel are responsible for inducing customers to return the old and invest in the new. The commissions for different positions have been divided into rules. For example, the group leader is generally divided into 30%, and the door-to-door personnel is generally divided into 40%.
From the perspective of the insurance industry, the bad influence of the industrialization of "agent surrender" lies in the use of the Internet to publicize the benefits of surrender, slander insurance products and life insurance functions, create tension between customers and insurance companies, and mislead the public to resist and misunderstand. At the same time, in order to obtain illegal benefits, the normal underwriting policy customers were induced to complain and surrender, which caused a large number of unreasonable complaints, which seriously affected the normal operating order of the insurance industry.
consumer
Being defrauded of fees, loans, and privacy
Encountered harvesting "comic sets"
In fact, malicious full withdrawal of the insurance ultimately harms the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. The reporter's investigation found that "agent surrender" has gradually evolved into a series of "harvesting" traps such as charging high handling fees, returning the old and replacing the old to earn commissions, selling personal information, and using information to defraud loans. Consumers cannot even suspend business by themselves.
"After surrendering the insurance, there was a physical problem, and I couldn't take out the insurance normally again." He lost the risk protection when the insurance was most needed. Mr. Li regretted his "tact operation" last year. In August last year, at the instigation of the "agent surrender" salesman, Mr. Li complained to the insurance company on the grounds that he was misled by marketing, and finally refunded RMB 320,400 of the pure protection policy premiums purchased for 6 years and paid to the agent. A handling fee of 80,000 yuan. However, in December last year, when Mr. Li wanted to repurchase the insurance, he was found to have a health problem, and the insurance company refused to cover it.
In this regard, the person in charge of the insurance company reminded that according to the insurance contract, surrender will not only cause consumers to face economic losses, but also lose the original insurance protection, increase the premium when reinsurance, and restrict insurance rights when reinsurance, or even refuse the insurance. And other risks. The reporter learned that in order to prevent malicious surrender of insurance and upgrade insurance risk control measures, many insurance companies may be blacklisted after malicious complaints by consumers of obtaining full surrender, leading to subsequent "no risk to invest".
In addition to the loss of protection, consumers who initiate "agent surrender" will often suffer financial losses and fall into the risk of fraud. The reporter's investigation found that the current "agent surrender" fees are charged in stages, but consumers are required to pay various other fees in advance. This year, Mr. Zhu paid a deposit of 1,000 yuan and a material fee of 100 yuan. After handling the "100% surrender" business, the agent repeatedly delayed for excuses. After that, he refused to answer the phone. WeChat was blocked. Mr. Zhu’s money was also drained. drift.
An insurance surrender agent told reporters that to entrust a full surrender of the insurance, a deposit must be paid first. However, after the company started "evidence analysis and evidence collection", consumers gave up their claims and the deposits would not be refunded. After the stage of "organization, writing, and consulting of legal materials", regardless of whether consumers voluntarily gave up their claims, the fees are in accordance with the contract. Agreed to charge.
It's not just the fees already paid that make consumers dilemma. In the investigation, the reporter found that the insurance surrender practitioners often sign "service agreements" with consumers and collect deposits, ID cards, insurance policies, etc. as collateral, which makes it difficult for consumers to ride the tiger and makes it difficult for insurance companies to intervene.
Once the "agent surrender" is activated, consumers can't even suspend it by themselves. Mr. Liang from Guangxi has encountered this. Enticed by advertisements, he found a surrender agent and began to surrender the insurance in full. But later, because he wanted to terminate the surrender application, he was harassed and intimidated by the agent through phone calls and door-to-door methods. Out of personal safety considerations, Mr. Liang was eventually forced to surrender the insurance in full and pay him a high handling fee of 12,500 yuan.
In addition, a greater risk exists after the information is leaked. By contacting the "surrender expert", the reporter enumerated 26 questions from the surrender customers, including various sensitive information.
Mr. Chen from Foshan was given a fake loan because of the "full surrender", which led to information leakage. Mr. Chen told reporters that in May this year, he received repayment notices from many lending institutions. After some investigations, Mr. Chen found that the problem was with Huang, the person who "surrendered the insurance in full" for him. Because of surrendering the insurance, he provided Huang with a lot of personal information, which was maliciously used by Huang to borrow money.
Some insurance industry practitioners told reporters that insurance agents can verify with insurance companies through the information they have obtained, and get more information about customers’ other insurance policies and businesses, so that consumer information is completely exposed.
Some people in the insurance industry revealed that by using information such as ID cards and bank cards, criminals can intercept consumers' withdrawal funds. In addition to surrendering insurance as an agent, many criminals often engage in credit card cash-out and micro-loan businesses. After consumers' personal information is leaked, they often become cash-out tools.
Focus
"Agent surrender" hides three major risks
Lawyers suggest to intensify the crackdown on gangs
In fact, the "agent surrender" has aroused the attention of the regulatory authorities. On April 9 this year, the China Banking Regulatory Commission’s website issued the "Reminders on Preventing "Agent Surrender" Risks" (hereinafter referred to as "Reminders") to remind consumers of the hidden dangers of "surrendering insurance" and prevent crime The elements violated the legitimate rights and interests of consumers in the name of "rights protection." In an interview with reporters, the lawyer stated that the current malicious surrender of the black industry chain group uses online or on-site transactions to buy and sell the insured’s identity information, insurance policy information, and collect bank card information for transactions, and then deceive the parties through deception and misleading methods. There are illegal acts in handling surrender of insurance, and some even constitute criminal offences, and the crackdown should be intensified.
China Banking Regulatory Commission:
Don’t believe in the so-called "agent surrender"
The Consumer Insurance Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission reminded in the "Reminder" that the act of "surrendering insurance as a proxy" hides at least three risks. The first is the risk of losing normal insurance protection. In order to seek profit, some individuals or groups engaged in "reimbursement of insurance" pretended to be the staff of the supervisory authority or insurance company to make false propaganda, claiming that the insurance products purchased by consumers "have fraudulent behavior, and many consumers have complained" or "continue Holding an insurance policy will incur economic losses," etc., instigate and encourage consumers who do not know the truth to terminate normal insurance contracts, and consumers lose risk protection. When consumers re-apply for insurance in the future, due to changes in age and health, they may face the risk of recalculating the waiting period, rising premiums or even being denied insurance.
The second is damage to funds or risk of fraud. Certain "agent surrenders" are not really aimed at protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but for profit. Before surrendering the insurance, consumers are required to pay high handling fees or deposits. After surrendering the insurance, consumers are induced to "return the old and invest in the new" and purchase so-called "high-yield" wealth management products or other company insurance products to earn commissions. Some organizations also use the copies of consumer bank cards and ID cards they hold to intercept and misappropriate consumer surrender funds. There are even illegal gangs that induce consumers to participate in illegal fundraising. Once they fall into a scam, the loss of consumer funds is hard to recover.
Third is the risk of personal information leakage. Some individuals or groups engaged in "agent surrender" use the guise of "rights protection" to gain consumer trust, and sign so-called "agent rights protection service agreements" with consumers, requiring consumers to provide ID cards, insurance policies, bank cards, and contact information And other sensitive information related to consumer privacy. In addition to "surrender of insurance", some organizations are also engaged in credit card cash-out and micro-loan businesses. Consumers' personal information has a high risk of being leaked or maliciously used by criminals. Some organizations even use extreme methods to harass consumers and force them to complain again when consumers want to terminate the "agent surrender" agreement.
The Consumer Insurance Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stated that it is a legitimate means for consumers to protect their legitimate rights and interests through complaints to report problems and appeals. However, once used by people with ulterior motives, it may have a negative impact on industry operations and ultimately damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Therefore, insurance consumers are reminded to fully consider their own insurance needs and handle surrender carefully. The main function of insurance products is to provide risk protection. Different life insurance products have different coverage and payment methods. Consumers should understand important information such as insurance liability, protection functions, exclusions and surrender losses of the insurance products they purchase, and carefully weigh whether it is necessary to terminate the insurance contract based on their own risk protection needs. In particular, we must be cautious about the so-called "returning the old and investing in the new" and "high-yield" products and other propaganda, establish a scientific and rational consumption concept, and prevent being deceived.
lawyer:
"Agent surrender" or suspected of fraud
"Agent surrender" has severely affected the order of the financial industry. Wu Xingyin, vice president of the Guangdong Lawyers Association, believes that malicious surrender of insurance black industry chain gangs buy and sell personal information, insurance policies, and bank cards of policyholders and insureds in illegal transactions. Information that constitutes a crime of infringing on citizens’ information shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.
Wu Xingyin stated that the black industry chain gangs who maliciously surrender insurance mainly use online or on-site transactions to buy and sell the insured’s identity information, insurance policy information, and collect bank card information for transactions, and then trick the parties into handling surrender through deception and misleading methods. The agent obtains illegal income by charging 30 to 50% of the surrender premium, and then deceives and misleads the party to re-insure by reducing the insured amount, reducing, or changing insurance types, and then gaining another 20% to 20%. 30 commissions to form a black industrial chain.
Wu Xingyin believes that in this process, the black industry chain group maliciously surrendered the insurance, obtained the surrender commission and re-insured illegal income by defrauding the parties to surrender the insurance, re-insurance, and the source of the illegal income obtained by the insured and the insured. The criminal group deceived the parties to surrender the insurance and re-apply for the insurance. On the one hand, the insured and the insured lost the cash value of the original insurance policy. Double loss of value. The above-mentioned illegal and criminal acts of the black industry chain group who maliciously surrender the insurance are the possession of the party’s property through the process of defrauding the party’s surrender and re-insurance, and should be recognized as a general fraud.
He suggested that for malicious surrender of insurance black industry chain criminal gangs, banking and insurance supervision agencies, industry associations, public security organs, procuratorial organs and other departments should establish a multi-departmental linkage mechanism, establish an information sharing communication mechanism, and increase the crackdown on the aforementioned illegal and criminal acts. In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of insurance consumers.