Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc explains about insurance 'easy to deposit but very difficult to withdraw'

Regarding the speed of withdrawing money, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that he personally participated in insurance and found that 'you can withdraw money immediately after registering'.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc - Photo: GIA HAN

On the morning of November 3, the National Assembly discussed the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Insurance Business and the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Public Debt Management.

Each insurance contract is several dozen pages long with many specialized terms.

Vice Chairwoman of the Committee on Law and Justice Nguyen Thi Thuy pointed out the shortcomings related to life insurance contracts.

She reflected that she actually borrowed a number of insurance contracts from different companies for research, but for someone with experience in law, she herself found reading them "really difficult to understand".

According to her, each insurance contract is dozens of pages long with many specialized terms about finance and insurance.

Because of the confusion, insurance buyers often place their trust in consultants, often their friends and acquaintances.

From practical inadequacies, Ms. Thuy suggested that when amending this law, more attention should be paid to regulations related to the content of life insurance contracts.

In addition to the requirement to ensure absolute honesty, it is necessary to supplement the principle of transparency of insurance contracts.

Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai shared that although he had never bought insurance, he had borrowed some contracts for research when he heard many voters complain about the situation of "it's easy to deposit money but very difficult to withdraw it".

Many people are even discouraged because they have to follow the terms of the contract with its lengthy appendices, so they accept losing the money they have paid.

"We often do research and legal work, but reading and understanding insurance contracts is very difficult. Therefore, the revised law must clarify the principle of "you pay, you receive" and the benefits must be easy to receive," she said.

She also suggested that a general insurance contract model should be approved by competent authorities. This model should be made public and all insurance companies should be required to comply.

"This will minimize risks so that when a dispute occurs, there is no need to discuss the general part, only the individual parts related to each subject," said Ms. Hai.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (HCMC) said that the current law stipulates five prohibited acts. These include threatening and forcing to sign insurance contracts. However, there is no provision prohibiting conflicts of interest.

He cited examples of countries that, when regulating an issue, avoid conflicts of interest. Because conflicts of interest here have the possibility that commercial banks in Vietnam can establish insurance companies.

Banks implement the policy of reducing loan interest rates according to the request of the State Bank, but the reduction of loan interest rates is through insurance, requiring businesses that receive loan interest rates to buy insurance to balance the bank's revenue, ensuring no change.

This leads to conflicts of interest and lack of transparency in fiscal policy.

From there, Mr. Huan proposed adding a provision prohibiting conflicts of interest in the bill to ensure fairness for businesses and transparency in insurance business activities.

Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Nguyen Thanh Hai - Photo: GIA HAN

Insurance brokers cause difficulties because of "sales-based"

Speaking to explain and clarify some issues raised by delegates regarding life insurance contracts, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that this is a type of conditional business insurance that must be licensed. Therefore, the law has a provision for economic contracts with basic contents.

Explaining why there is no standard contract, he said that if there is such a regulation, it will reduce the flexibility of companies, especially foreign companies.

Therefore, contracts implemented in connection with that insurance must be approved by the Department of Insurance Management and Supervision (Ministry of Finance) along with that insurance before being implemented.

"This is voluntary insurance so the terms must be very clear to implement," he said.

Regarding the speed of withdrawing money, the Deputy Prime Minister said that he personally participated in insurance and found that "you can withdraw money immediately after registering".

"When the term expires, they have to pay. If they want to cancel the contract or withdraw money before the term expires, it may not be the company that is causing the difficulty, but the insurance broker.

Because they depend on sales, they create technical problems so that I have to go several times before I can withdraw," he explained.

To overcome the shortcomings in the past, according to the Government leader, this revised law has issues related to cross-selling of insurance, clearly regulating that participants have the right to choose to buy cross-insurance.

For example, an insurance agent can sell many types of insurance from different insurance companies, or a bank can sell or lend credit along with selling insurance, but it must be public and transparent for management agencies to monitor and inspect.

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THANH CHUNG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/pho-thu-tuong-ho-duc-phoc-ly-giai-ve-bao-hiem-dong-tien-vao-de-nhung-rut-ra-rat-kho-20251103115949235.htm