Strictly prohibit giving false advice, competing, enticing, and using tricks to sell insurance

On March 18, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc answered questions before the National Assembly Standing Committee on the management and supervision of insurance business activities and service activities in the field of life insurance business.

National Assembly Delegate Tran Dinh Gia asked questions from Ha Tinh bridge

Questioning at the Ha Tinh bridge, delegate Tran Dinh Gia (Ha Tinh delegation) said that currently, insurance buyers are offered high discounts and insurance consultants solicit customers excessively. This has caused misunderstandings for customers and affected the quality of insurance services.

In addition, insurance contracts are often very long, using many specialized terms, and insurance buyers depend on consultants while consultants often introduce the good aspects of insurance without clearly stating the obligations and conditions when participating in insurance, leading to insurance buyers not fully understanding the content of the contract and often being disadvantaged when disputes arise. Delegate Tran Dinh Gia requested the Minister of Finance to clarify solutions to solve the problem in the coming time.

Also concerned about the shortcomings related to the insurance market, delegate Nguyen Anh Tri ( Hanoi Delegation) said that the Ministry of Finance is drafting a draft Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 98/2013/ND-CP, Decree No. 48/2018/ND-CP, Decree No. 80/2019/ND-CP, Decree No. 102/2021/ND-CP of the Government regulating administrative sanctions in the field of insurance business and lottery business. The delegate asked the Minister of Finance to let him know if the draft Decree has any new points related to the sale of insurance through credit institutions to resolve current problems?

Responding to questions from delegate Tran Dinh Gia, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc affirmed that the acts of solicitation to sell insurance contracts were committed by insurance employees and insurance companies.

For management agencies, the law strictly prohibits insurance officers from giving false advice, competing, enticing, and using tricks to sell insurance to people who do not have high awareness.

On the side of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry has conducted inspections and audits when there are complaints about such acts and strictly punished them. Cases with signs of violations have been transferred to the investigation agency for handling.

Regarding the situation of overly long insurance contracts mentioned by delegates, the Minister said that previously, contracts lasted dozens of pages, causing loopholes and causing damage to insurance participants. However, the Law on Insurance Business, effective from 2023 and related regulations, have a chapter on insurance contracts to ensure that insurance contracts are more concise, clearer, and stricter.

At the same time, the law also stipulates that within 21 days, if an error is discovered in the insurance contract, the insured has the right to claim a refund, and the insurance company must return it to the insured.

"Therefore, issues related to insurance contracts and solicitation to participate in insurance have been clearly stipulated in the Law as prohibited issues and must not be implemented," Minister Ho Duc Phoc stated.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc answers questions before the National Assembly Standing Committee - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Responding to delegate Nguyen Anh Tri, specifically mentioning the situation of selling insurance through banks, the Minister said that when giving comments on the Law on Credit Institutions (amended), the Ministry of Finance proposed a regulation that does not allow advice on selling insurance through banks with bank products.

The law also stipulates that within 60 days before and after disbursing bank loan products, insurance products cannot be sold and some other regulations...

Along with that, the Ministry of Finance has assigned the Insurance Management Department to coordinate with the State Bank's supervisory agency to handle complaints or information about cases where, during the inspection process, it is discovered that there is abuse of banking credit institutions to sell insurance.

Minister Ho Duc Phoc informed that the draft decree developed by the Ministry of Finance stipulates very specific acts, especially handling with fines and additional penalties such as license revocation and license suspension to strictly implement the provisions of law in this field.

Responding to the question of delegate Nguyen Hai Dung (Nam Dinh delegation) about the inspection and examination of life insurance companies that sell insurance through credit institutions and foreign bank branches, the Minister of Finance said that in 2023, the Ministry of Finance inspected 10/17 life insurance companies with revenue through the banking channel.

To date, the Ministry has issued 5 inspection conclusions for 5 companies, is submitting procedures to issue 3 conclusions, and 2 conclusions are in progress.

In 2024, the Ministry of Finance plans to inspect 14 insurance companies, including inspections of the implementation of insurance sales through credit institutions.

Source