Financial Authorities: "We Will Help You Recover Hidden Insurance Money Worth 10.7 Trillion Won"

Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service Launch 'Hidden Insurance Money Recovery Campaign'
Unified Notification of 10.734 Trillion KRW via Resident Registration Network
28 Trillion KRW Insurance Payouts Returned to Consumers in Past Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Financial authorities are conducting a campaign to return approximately 10.7 trillion KRW of 'hidden insurance money' to consumers.

The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service announced on the 13th that they will promote the 'Hidden Insurance Money Finder Campaign,' which uses resident registration network information from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to collectively notify insurance policyholders and others about hidden insurance money.

According to the financial authorities, as of the end of November last year, the amount of hidden insurance money not claimed by consumers was 10.734 trillion KRW.

This includes about 7.86 trillion KRW in interim insurance payments such as accident partial insurance payments, dividends, and survival pensions; 1.78 trillion KRW in maturity insurance payments that have reached contract maturity but are before the expiration of the statute of limitations; and approximately 1.1 trillion KRW in dormant insurance money for which the statute of limitations has expired.

The financial authorities plan to provide information from the 14th via SMS, AlimTalk, electronic registered mail, and other methods that consumers can immediately check, if insurance companies identified the latest contact information of policyholders last year.

For contracts where the latest contact information was not confirmed or where the insured has died and death benefits have occurred but the insurance money has not been claimed, postal notifications will be sent from next month to the latest address based on the resident registration network.

Additionally, from this year, information on retirement pension insurance not received by workers at businesses that have reported closure or bankruptcy (738 cases / 860 million KRW) will also be notified.

Financial Services Commission

In December 2017, the financial authorities, together with the insurance industry, launched 'My Insurance Finder (Zoom),' which allows integrated inquiry of all insurance subscription details and the scale of hidden insurance money.

Based on this, from December 2018 to the end of November last year, about 1,267,000 cases and 2.8267 trillion KRW of hidden insurance money were found.

By sector, life insurance companies paid 2.6698 trillion KRW, and non-life insurance companies paid 156.9 billion KRW. By type of insurance money, interim insurance payments amounted to 2.0236 trillion KRW, maturity insurance payments 640.2 billion KRW, and dormant insurance money 162.9 billion KRW.

Interest on hidden insurance money is provided according to the terms and conditions. The financial authorities urged, "After confirming hidden insurance money, carefully check the interest rate level and decide whether to claim it immediately."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.