Hồ Đức Phớc, Minister of Finance, spoke at the 31st meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Monday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Insurance staff are strictly prohibited by law to provide misleading advice, engage in excessive competition, entice customers or take advantage of individuals with limited knowledge for the purpose of selling insurance, said Minister of Finance Hồ Đức Phớc.

At the ongoing 31st meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Monday morning, deputy Trần Đình Gia from Hà Tĩnh Province expressed his worry over the market's distortion as insurance consultants excessively chase after customers to sign contracts.

This has caused misunderstandings for customers and ultimately affected the quality of insurance services, Gia said adding that the insurance contract's term is often very long while specialised terms force insurance buyers to depend on consultants.

Meanwhile, insurance sellers often only advise the good aspects without clearly stating the rights and responsibilities, leading to the situation that buyers are not sure of the content of the policy and often find themselves at a disadvantage when disputes arise.

Deputy Nguyễn Anh Trí from Hà Nội shared the concern and proposed that the Minister of Finance provide insights into new provisions in the draft Decree amending Government Decree 40 (2018) and Government Decree 80 (2019) on sanctioning administrative violations in the field of insurance business.

Responding to the concerns about the insurance market, Minister Phớc said that the manipulative acts in insurance sales are the acts of insurance staff and their companies.

In terms of management, the law prohibits insurance staff from giving false advice, scrambling, enticing and using tactics to take advantage of people with limited knowledge to sell insurance.

The Ministry of Finance has carried out inspections and investigations when receiving complaints, strictly sanctioned and transferred to the investigation agency cases with signs of wrongdoing for handling.

In the past, there were lengthy contracts that consisted of dozens of pages, causing confusion and damage to insurance buyers.

However, in amending the law on insurance business in 2023 and relevant regulations, the drafting body has devoted a whole chapter on insurance contracts aiming to ensure that they are shorter, clearer and stricter.

The law also specifies that within 21 days, if it is found that the insurance contract has errors, the insured has the right to claim the money back, and the insurer must return it to the insured.

Minister Phớc said: "Therefore, issues related to insurance contracts or enticing customers to buy insurance have been clearly stipulated in the law on insurance business in 2023.” VNS