'Firefighters and Soldiers' Insurance Enrollment Refusal Prohibited... Practices of Withholding Delay Interest in Disputes Also Cracked Down

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[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] In the future, insurance cannot be denied solely because of certain occupations such as firefighters, soldiers, or delivery workers. The practice of insurance companies not paying delayed interest on insurance claims simply because the policyholder has filed a dispute resolution request will also be eliminated. Additionally, if a person is hospitalized to treat two or more diseases, the highest hospitalization insurance benefit must be paid.

On the 29th, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that it will promote improvements to unreasonable standard terms and conditions and standard business manuals to enhance the rights and interests of insurance consumers.

First, a basis will be established to prohibit denial of insurance enrollment based on occupation or job type. Currently, insurance companies classify certain occupations such as firefighters, soldiers, and delivery workers as occupations for which insurance enrollment is denied, citing side effects such as premium increases as reasons for refusal.

Accordingly, a basis will be established in the standard business manual to prevent denial of insurance enrollment for workers in specific occupations or job types without reasonable grounds.

Also, insurance companies must specifically notify relevant details when terminating a contract due to violation of the duty of disclosure. The standard terms and conditions will be revised to require insurance companies to notify the "violation facts causing contract termination" when notifying contract termination due to breach of the duty of disclosure.

Furthermore, current life insurance standard terms and conditions stipulate that if payment of insurance benefits is delayed due to reasons attributable to the policyholder, delayed interest for the relevant period may not be paid.

As a result, there have been cases where insurance companies do not pay delayed interest to policyholders who have filed dispute resolution requests. The standard terms and conditions will be revised to prohibit refusal to pay delayed interest solely on the grounds of filing a dispute resolution request.

In the standard terms and conditions related to diseases and injuries, exemption conditions for certain occupations such as ship crew members, fishermen, and boatmen will be improved to specify that the exemption applies while on board during work,

and individual insurance company terms will also be revised. Provisions will be added to prevent insurance companies that newly underwrite group insurance from refusing to pay insurance benefits due to diseases or injuries that occurred before the contract, and the terms will be amended to pay the highest hospitalization insurance benefit regardless of the classification of diseases when hospitalized to treat two or more diseases.

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to implement these changes after a prior notice period and revision of the insurance business supervision rules, and under the supervision of the Life and Non-life Insurance Associations, will encourage insurance companies to voluntarily improve their individual terms and conditions.

The Financial Supervisory Service announced on the 29th that it will promote improvements to unreasonable standard terms and conditions and standard business manuals to enhance the rights and interests of insurance consumers.

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