The car insurance sales call is bombarded in advance and annoying
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Our intern Guan Chuyu
In early June, cross talk actor Sun Yue posted on Weibo: "Whoever doesn't call me, I'll take out insurance!" It turned out to be because his car insurance expired at the end of July, but many insurance companies have been insured for nearly a week. The phone is "bombed" and can receive nearly 20 calls a day.
Sun Yue's experience is not an exception.
In recent interviews, many car owners told the "Rules of Law Daily" reporter that they often received sales calls from insurance companies one or two months before the expiration of their car insurance.
Some car owners said that the "bombing" of the insurance company's phone calls regardless of time period has seriously affected their life and work.
As a car owner, the annual car insurance must be purchased, but the phone "bombing" before the renewal is really a headache.
How can auto insurance sales make car owners have a better consumer experience?
With this question in mind, the reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
telemarketing months in advance
The owner complains that he is upset and has a headache
Under Sun Yue's Weibo, many netizens complained that they had the same troubles as him.
In order not to be disturbed by insurance sales calls, some car owners buy the next year's car insurance a month or two in advance.
However, there are still insurance salesmen calling to sell and asking where to buy it and what the price is.
"I was tortured by the insurance company to the point of having a mental problem." Ms. Lin from Chaoyang, Beijing told reporters that her car insurance was about to expire, and the sales of an insurance company started calling her two or three months in advance. The sales who came to call said that he was her exclusive customer service and exclusive person in charge.
The most troublesome thing for Ms. Lin is that the sales call does not divide the time, whether it is work, get off work, vacation or lunch break.
Mr. Guan from Yangxi, Guangdong also encountered such a terrible thing-two months before the auto insurance expires, he must be "bombed" by the insurance company's telemarketing.
In fact, Mr. Kwan has been buying auto insurance from his friends for several years, so every time he received a telemarketing call, he clearly refused, but the sales call continued one after another.
Why do car insurance salesmen have to make calls so many days in advance?
The reporter's investigation found that the current auto insurance can be renewed one month or even several months in advance, and the regulations vary from place to place.
Some insurance companies have resorted to unprecedented power in order to boost performance.
A salesman of an insurance company told reporters: "The competition in auto insurance is very high now. If you don't make a phone call, others will call, not only will you not be able to grab new customers, but old customers may be taken away. The company has regulations that limit the number of calls per day. 40 calls and 100 minutes of talk time.”
According to Zhang Junyan, an associate professor at the School of Finance and Economics of Renmin University of China, telephone calls from insurance companies are a marketing tool, and there is nothing wrong with them.
"Actually, in addition to auto insurance, there are also widespread irregularities in telemarketing in the personal insurance business. It's just that the regulatory authorities have clear regulations on the latter. Randomly make phone calls to visit unfamiliar customers, or use the name of the company's telemarketing center to visit customers'." Zhang Junyan said that because auto insurance is mostly a one-year business, the frequency is higher, the radiation coverage is wider, and the violations in telemarketing are more apparent. obvious.
Paying money to buy user data
Leak of privacy is suspected of breaking the law
The harassing calls come from various insurance companies. Except for the insurance company that the car owner has been on, why do other insurance companies also have the contact information and related information of the car owner?
In the reporter's investigation, many car owners expressed their concerns about the leakage of personal privacy: not only the landline number and mobile phone number, but also the salesmen of insurance companies who have never participated in insurance can even accurately say the owner's name and the brand of the vehicle model.
A salesperson of an insurance company told reporters that they do not have to worry about making phone calls. The company provides a list of contacts, including renewals, reinsurance and new users.
The reporter searched "how to obtain user data through telemarketing" on the online platform, and some posts selling customer information came into view.
The reporter added the other party as a friend on the grounds that he wanted to buy data.
The other party asked about the industry the reporter was engaged in, whether it was personal purchase or corporate purchase.
According to him, they capture real-time data, so the data is not readily available, and it takes about two days to download the data, which is guaranteed to be an exclusive resource.
For example, there are many apps and websites in the insurance industry, and these apps and websites have customer registration and login information that can be captured.
In terms of price, the first MOQ is 1,000 pieces, 1.5 yuan a piece; more than 5,000 pieces is 0.8 yuan a piece.
There are also many netizens who claim that there are some scalper calls and fraudulent calls among the "bombing" calls they have received.
For example, after receiving a sales call, I immediately received a text message from the anti-fraud center, and the police called to remind me not to be deceived.
Zheng Xiaoyang, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongdun Law Firm, said that according to the Personal Information Protection Law and the Personal Information Security Specification for Information Security Technology, mobile phone numbers are considered personal information.
At present, there may be two channels for merchants to obtain customer information, one is obtained through illegal trading, and the other is obtained through user registration on the website, app registration, or information left by purchasing the company's corresponding commercial insurance.
Zheng Xiaoyang said that if the personal phone number and other information of citizens are obtained through illegal channels, if the circumstances are serious, it may violate the criminal law and constitute a crime; if the circumstances are relatively minor, it may constitute an administrative violation or civil tort.
It is imminent to strengthen internal control
Take multiple measures to regulate electricity sales
The reporter noticed that the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Specialized Products for Telemarketing of Property Insurance Companies" clearly requires that insurance companies should obtain customer information in compliance with laws and regulations, strictly abide by the customer information confidentiality system, standardize customer service to improve service levels, and establish a phone number shielding system. .
That is, "if the customer clearly expresses that he does not apply for insurance or refuses to continue to answer the phone, the telemarketing agent shall end the call in time and use technical means to shield the relevant phone number. The insurance company shall not call the same customer again within one year."
"After the regulations are in place, the key is to strictly implement and strengthen supervision and management." Zhang Junyan said, especially to strengthen the source management, how did the information of the car owner's auto insurance expiry flow out and be known by many insurance companies and marketers?
Violating the disclosure of auto insurance customer information is a violation of customer privacy, and repeatedly calling car owners for sales is also a violation.
In July 2018, 13 departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Special Action Plan for Comprehensive Remediation of Harassing Calls", proposing to fully standardize the marketing outbound call business.
If it is required to carry out outbound calls for commercial marketing, the consent of the user shall be obtained, a user whitelist shall be established and relevant basis materials shall be retained, and the outbound call time period and behavior shall be regulated, and shall not affect the normal life of the user.
After the user expressly refuses, no further calls shall be made to him.
"When an insurance company obtains user information through legal channels for telemarketing, it must also obtain the consent of the consumer in advance. But what is consent? How should operators obtain the consent of users? Legal consequences of calling consumers without consent What is it? These issues lack specific rules in the current laws and regulations." Zheng Xiaoyang said.
How to manage "bombing" auto insurance sales?
Zhang Junyan suggested that insurance companies should strengthen internal control.
Judging from the current public opinion, consumers are very disgusted with the "bombing" of auto insurance sales. Companies need to measure the relationship between the scale of insurance premiums and the risk of corporate reputation and regulatory penalties to avoid telemarketing turning into telephone harassment.
Insurance industry associations strengthen industry self-discipline, require insurance companies to strengthen customer information management, prevent customer information leakage, and cultivate insurance sales staff's awareness of serving customers and respecting customers.
In addition, insurance regulators should also strengthen guidance and supervision.
Zhang Junyan analyzed that since the market-oriented reform of auto insurance rates was piloted to full implementation in 2015, the e-sales channel business has declined, and customers have begun to flow to traditional channels such as traditional car dealers and personal agents.
After the reform, the auto insurance premium prices of various channels have converged, and the price advantage of the electricity sales channel no longer exists. Therefore, the incentive effect of this marketization is obvious.
However, when necessary, new departmental rules and regulations should be issued, just like the regulation of personal insurance sales, to clearly stipulate the management responsibilities of insurance institutions to auto insurance sales channels and sales personnel.
"All telecommunications operators should also strengthen the governance of harassing calls and spam text messages in accordance with relevant requirements, and strictly implement policies such as shutting down irregular callers." Zhang Junyan said that the ultimate purpose of taking the above regulatory measures is to regulate Industry order, promote the healthy development of auto insurance telemarketing, ensure regular auto insurance telemarketing, and provide standardized services for car owners.
From the consumer's point of view, what should I do if I receive a "bombing" call from an insurance company's salesperson before renewing the policy?
Zheng Xiaoyang said that consumers can directly hang up in this situation and identify and block them through smartphone software; they can also file complaints with relevant functional departments such as telecommunications companies, industry and commerce departments, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Report to the police department.
"Electric Bombing" Comic / Gao Yue