China Banking Regulatory Commission upgraded the management of insurance clauses and premium rates of property insurance companies
Insurance terms and rates cannot be changed after approval or filing
□ Our reporter Zhou Fenmian
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission recently issued the newly revised "Property Insurance Company Insurance Clauses and Insurance Premium Rate Management Measures" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures").
The "Administrative Measures" has 6 chapters and 40 articles, which are general rules, clause development and rate determination, examination and approval and filing, supervision and management, legal responsibilities and supplementary provisions.
Effective from October 1, 2021.
Compared with the previous version, the "Administrative Measures" has revised and improved many aspects such as the insurance product supervision system and mechanism, business supervision and handling of violations.
Approval and filing coexist
The insurance business operated by insurance companies is a franchise business. The supervision of insurance company insurance clauses and insurance premium rates is directly related to the interests of the majority of policyholders.
The professor of the School of Economics and Law of Northwest University of Political Science and Law strongly believes that the understanding of the "Management Measures" must first be raised to the level of safeguarding public interests, maintaining market order, and preventing and dissolving financial risks.
The second is the interpretation of specific content.
The insurance contract is unilaterally prepared by the insurance company. It is a format contract. It is difficult for policyholders to bargain with the insurance company. Therefore, in addition to supervising the establishment, corporate governance, and termination of the insurance company, the supervisory department also supervises the insurance company’s insurance Regulations and insurance premium rate setting and other businesses are supervised.
However, this does not mean that all businesses of insurance companies are subject to exactly the same strict supervision.
Strongly speaking, various countries have inconsistent supervision of insurance company business. There is very strict supervision. Insurance companies basically have no autonomy in contract terms such as insurance clauses and rates. Japan is a typical model of this model; there are also very loose supervisions. That is, all terms are set by each company, and the UK adopts this model.
The vast majority of countries are both leniency and strict.
Ren Zili, secretary-general of the Insurance Law Research Institute of the Chinese Law Society and professor at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Law School, said that my country has a legal basis for the coexistence of approval and filing of insurance company clauses.
The Insurance Law clearly stipulates that the insurance clauses and premium rates of insurance types related to the public interest, types of compulsory insurance in accordance with the law, and newly developed life insurance types should be submitted to the State Council's insurance regulatory agency for approval.
When examining and approving the State Council’s insurance regulatory agency, it shall follow the principles of protecting the public’s interests and preventing unfair competition.
The insurance clauses and premium rates of other types of insurance shall be reported to the insurance supervision and management agency for the record.
The relevant provisions of the "Administrative Measures" are consistent with this: "The property insurance company shall submit the insurance clauses and premium rates of insurance types that are related to the public interest and the types of insurance subject to compulsory insurance in accordance with the law to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission for approval. Insurance clauses and insurance of other types of insurance For the rate, the property insurance company shall report to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission or its provincial-level dispatched agency for the record. The specific insurance types that shall be submitted for approval or record shall be separately stipulated by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission."
"Approval must be approved before implementation; filing is to report to the regulatory authorities after implementation." Strongly said that whether it is approval or filing, once it is completed, it must be strictly implemented.
The "Administrative Measures" clarified that the insurance clauses and insurance premium rates that should be reviewed and approved shall not be used by property insurance companies until they are approved by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
Regarding the insurance clauses and insurance premium rates that should be filed, the property insurance company shall report to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission or its provincial-level dispatched agency for the record within ten working days after operating.
Improve the regulatory system
In Qiangli's view, perfecting the regulatory system and mechanism for insurance products is a notable feature of the "Administrative Measures."
The "Administrative Measures" stipulate that property insurance companies and their branches shall strictly implement the approved or filed insurance clauses and premium rates, and must not change the insurance clauses or premium rates in any way in violation of the provisions of these Measures.
If the insurance clauses or insurance premium rates used by property insurance companies and their branches are found to violate laws, administrative regulations or the "Administrative Measures", the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission or its provincial-level dispatched institutions shall order them to stop the use and modify them within a time limit; the circumstances are serious , It is possible to prohibit the declaration of new insurance clauses and insurance premium rates within a certain period of time.
The "Administrative Measures" require property insurance companies to formulate insurance clauses and insurance premium rate development and management systems, establish a review mechanism, and review major issues concerning the development and management of insurance clauses and insurance premium rates.
The "Management Measures" strengthened the entire process management.
According to the "Administrative Measures", property insurance companies should designate special departments to perform the functions of insurance clauses and premium rate development and management, and be responsible for the centralized management of the entire process of research and development, submission for approval and filing, verification and revision, and clearance and cancellation.
The management of insurance clauses and insurance premium rates in use should be strengthened, and special departments should be designated to carry out follow-up evaluation, improve and revise, and promptly clean up those that are no longer in use.
Strictly hold accountability
Ren Zili said that before the implementation of the "Administrative Measures," the China Insurance Regulatory Commission and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission imposed penalties on property insurance companies that violated regulations.
The most recent penalty was disclosed by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on August 30.
According to the investigation by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the People's Insurance Company of China (hereinafter referred to as PICC P&C) violated the law by failing to use approved or filed insurance clauses and premium rates in accordance with regulations.
Specifically: After the revised insurance clauses and premium rates are approved or filed, PICC P&C still uses the original insurance clauses and premium rates in the newly concluded insurance contract; the insurance approved or filed by the China Banking Regulatory Commission has not been strictly implemented Rates; insurance clauses approved or filed by the China Banking Regulatory Commission have not been strictly implemented.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission imposed administrative penalties in accordance with the law, fined PICC Property and Casualty Insurance of 500,000 yuan; the responsible persons Wu Jianlin and Ni Hong were warned and fined 100,000 yuan respectively.
The reporter combed and found that in August this year alone, excluding local agencies, there were two punishment decisions made by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission at this level.
In addition to the above-mentioned penalties, on August 2, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission also disclosed the administrative penalty decision on Zhongan Online Property Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhongan Property Insurance).
According to the investigation by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, ZhongAn Property & Casualty Insurance has four types of illegal activities: self-operated online platform promotes and sells pages to deceive policyholders, and promotes sales terms that do not match terms or facts; third-party platforms promote sales pages to deceive policyholders, and sell “heavy The marketing and sales terms of "Illness Insurance" and "6 million medical insurance" are inconsistent with the facts; the approved or filed insurance clauses, insurance premium rates, etc. are not used in accordance with the regulations.
Strongly speaking, because of its unilateral formulation and professionalism, most insured persons do not understand insurance contracts.
If the propaganda staff speaks very nicely and the insured person thinks it is appropriate, many people will not read the content of the real contract seriously.
This is also the usual practice of insurance companies in violation of regulations.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission also discovered that ZhongAn Property & Casualty Insurance has illegal acts of preparing or providing false reports, statements, documents, and materials.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission will impose penalties on the above-mentioned violations. A total of 1.45 million yuan will be imposed on ZhongAn Property and Casualty Insurance. Among them, the last type of violation is false reporting of information, and the highest fine is 500,000 yuan. The remaining three types of behaviors are 300,000 yuan or 350,000 yuan.
Penalties ranging from 70,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan were also imposed on the relevant parties, and a warning was given.
The "Administrative Measures" impose more requirements on insurance companies, which means that penalties for violations will also be stricter.
As the relevant person in charge of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said, the amendments to the "Administrative Measures" are to clarify the person who is directly responsible for the terms and rates and the handling of violations, and put forward requirements for the company's product management.
The "Administrative Measures" stipulate that the person in charge of the department of the property insurance company performing the functions of the development and management of insurance clauses and premium rates shall be directly responsible for the development and management of the company's insurance clauses and premium rates. The person in charge of compliance is directly responsible for the review of insurance clauses, and the chief actuary is directly responsible for the review of insurance rates. For the violations of the above three categories of persons, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission or its provincial-level dispatched agency shall order corrections, submit written inspections, and order the company to be accountable.