Auto insurance welcomes big changes: intermediary channels are prohibited from promising unagreed benefits through cashback, gifts, etc

Every reporter: Yuan Yuan Every editor: Ma Ziqing

On April 16, the reporter learned from the industry that some insurance companies have recently issued internal documents requiring strict self-discipline and strict management of car insurance costs for newly reinsured family cars and driving insurance from April 15.

"On April 15, an internal meeting was held within the industry on car insurance. The meeting believed that the comprehensive cost ratio of auto insurance has reached the vicinity of breakeven, and if the industry's high-cost behavior is not curbed, it will seriously affect the high-quality development of auto insurance. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, it is ready to implement the three mechanisms of 'investigation, notification and linkage' in the field of auto insurance. An industry insider said.

Intermediary channels are prohibited from promising unagreed benefits through methods such as cash rebates and gifts

A few days ago, some insurance companies in the auto insurance industry have made requirements for various agencies and brokerage companies. According to the documents obtained by the reporter, in order to implement the requirements of the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Auto Insurance Expenses" issued by the State Administration of Financial Regulation, take the initiative to maintain market order, standardize sales behavior, and cooperate with the industry to combat the chaos of market infringement of consumer rights and interests, from April 15, 2024, all agency companies and brokerage companies must jointly and strictly implement the following relevant sales specifications.

The first is to strictly manage the cost of auto insurance, and prohibit giving or promising benefits to the policyholder and the insured other than those agreed in the insurance contract by returning cash or giving away negotiable securities and non-clause value-added services.

The second is to do a good job in publicizing the protection of consumers' rights and interests, standardize sales behavior, clearly inform that rebates are suspected of illegal acts of commercial bribery, and jointly improve the quality of customer service and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of customers.

Third, the industry will regularly pay return visits to customers who have been released from insurance, and once it is verified that there is cashback or illegal non-clause services, it will immediately suspend business cooperation and reserve the right to pursue the responsibility of relevant personnel.

It is worth mentioning that there are also relevant notices for the sales team of insurance companies issued at the same time. Starting from April 15, a number of insurance companies in the industry will implement strict self-discipline for newly reinsured family cars and driving insurance.

First, in terms of 0 subsidy for family cars, only the basic handling fee of the system is retained, that is, 15% of fuel commercial insurance, 8% of new energy commercial insurance, and 4% of compulsory traffic insurance, and the driving policy distinguishes between renewal and reinsurance;

The whole industry has tried to implement the three mechanisms of "investigation and punishment, notification, and linkage".

It is reported that on April 15, the industry held a relevant meeting on auto insurance, and it was clear that the problems of high costs and irrational competition in the auto insurance industry have been alleviated, but they have not been fundamentally solved. To this end, the State Administration of Financial Supervision requires that the three mechanisms of "investigation, notification and linkage" be piloted in the whole industry to strengthen the "integration of reporting and banking".

The three major mechanisms are the inspection mechanism, in accordance with the principle of "compliance with the law, practical results, self-discipline and norms, and long teeth and thorns", organize all localities to carry out unannounced inspections on the implementation of the "integration of reporting and banking", and at the same time strengthen the use of inspection results, and implement penalties for stopping the use of auto insurance products in accordance with the insurance law for insurance entities that are found to have violated the requirements of "integration of reporting and banking", and carry out on-site inspections and investigations.

The notification mechanism reports the operation of auto insurance in each region on a quarterly basis, including: the ranking of the comprehensive expense ratio and the comprehensive cost ratio, the quarter-on-quarter changes in the comprehensive expense ratio and the comprehensive cost ratio, and the authenticity of the data (focusing on the delay in the recording of expenses, the transfer of expenses to the claims side, and the transfer of expenses to non-motor insurance).

The linkage mechanism links the key indicators of auto insurance in each region with the number of typical cases of local discontinuation of auto insurance products, and in principle, the number of cases that should be reported in the next quarter will be higher in areas with poor performance of key indicators (comprehensive expense ratio and comprehensive cost ratio) in the current quarter and a large deterioration from the previous quarter. Fluctuations caused by major disasters will be appropriately excluded, and Tibet will not be included for the time being.

It is reported that the mechanism was proposed at the briefing on auto insurance supervision held by the Property and Casualty Insurance Department of the State Administration of Financial Supervision in March this year, at which the relevant person in charge revealed that it will be implemented soon. The convening of this meeting means that the supervision of the auto insurance industry to control sales expenses and reduce debt costs has been tightened again.

"This time, the requirements are strict, and the aim is to reduce the overall cost ratio. An industry insider told reporters. In order to promote the standardized development of the auto insurance ecosystem, the head institution of the property insurance industry has also launched an industry self-discipline convention, calling on industry practitioners to promote the development of the whole industry for good, participate in fair competition, and jointly maintain a good order in the auto insurance market.

National Business Daily