Customers receive consultations over policies at an insurance fair held in HCM City. VNA/VNS photo

HÀ NỘI - The Ministry of Finance has requested insurance companies to urgently review their overall sales and appraisal processes, and customer service procedures to ensure compliance with legal regulations.

Insurance companies need to disclose information about their operations, especially information related to customers' duties and benefits for each insurance policy. 

The Insurance Supervisory Authority, a regulatory body responsible for overseeing and regulating the insurance industry, under the Ministry of Finance, has been holding working sessions with representatives of insurance companies regarding the management of the quality of operations and customer care.

Director of the supervisory Ngô Việt Trung requested companies to control the information presented by sales agents, product introductions, and strictly prohibit agents from arbitrarily changing the information in these documents, which may lead to misunderstandings and inappropriate insurance claims.

In addition, insurance companies must establish and publicly announce their hotline and departments to receive, respond to, and resolve customer feedback and complaints regarding insurance contracts, benefits, and to avoid prolonging them.

Regarding customer complaints about violations by insurance agencies and agents, the companies are requested to transfer information to the authorities.

The ministry said it was necessary to rectify the evaluation and issuance of insurance contracts. The evaluation and issuance of insurance contracts must ensure compliance with the financial capabilities and risk acceptance of customers.

Trung stressed insurance companies must review the entire training programme for their agents to ensure compliance with the approved guideline from the ministry.

They must also provide additional training for and keep up-to-date with the latest regulations to agents who received their training online in the past. 

He said insurance companies must take action against agents in case they violated regulations and ethnic codes, as well as the agencies who employ their services. 

Regarding customer feedback through social media channels, insurance companies must be more proactive in providing relevant information in a timely manner.

The companies were told to work closely with the Vietnam Insurance Association to develop and implement an overall communication plan on the life insurance market and insurance products.

The association was asked to review and improve its code of ethics for insurance agents, as well as standard rules to apply to all insurance companies, with emphasis on heavy sanctions for violations

There have been numerous complaints filed against the industry in recent years, both through official channels and on social media networks with the latest incident in which a number of actresses and singers publicly disclosed grievances over transparency and customer service of their insurance policies. VNS