(Image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, June 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean insurance companies have toughened the screening of insurance claims, resulting in growing complaints from policyholders. It has been pointed out that insurance companies are now using on-site investigations excessively.
For insurance companies, on-site investigation is an effective way to detect any possible fraud, but the problem is that it’s often abused as a tool to refuse the payment of insurance claims or to pay too little.
The number of financial disputes in insurance category has been on an upward trend, rising from 28,118 cases in 2018 to 29,622 cases in 2019 and 32,130 cases in 2020, according to the latest disclosures of the Financial Supervisory Service.
Among them, disputes over assessment and payment of insurance claims numbered 12,190 cases in 2018, 14,498 cases in 2019 and 14,961 cases in 2020, accounting for the largest share.
In some cases, disputes over payment of insurance claims evolve into lawsuits.
According to the Korea Life Insurance Association, the number of lawsuits disclosed by the nation’s 23 life insurance companies in the first quarter of this year totaled 1,395 cases. In the first quarter of 2021, 24 life insurance companies disclosed 1,498 lawsuits.
The number of lawsuits regarding payment of insurance claims is expected to grow, particularly given the recent hike in the number of complaints from policyholders who claim that they have suffered from insurance companies’ stricter screening of cataract surgery claims.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
