SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid concerns over last week’s historic earthquake and the hundreds of aftershocks that have followed, some insurance companies have ceased to offer earthquake insurance products. A record magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck the peninsula on September 12 with its epicenter some eight kilometers south of Gyeongju. Since the original temblor, some [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Insurance companies have been caught recommending expensive health insurance plans intended for the elderly and people with chronic diseases to otherwise healthy customers. These expensive insurance plans are referred to as Simple Evaluation Insurance (SEI), and were designed to meet demand from the rising number of elderly Koreans and [...]
SEOUL, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) – More than 1,800 jobs vanished from the financial sector in 2015. Financial institutions have downsized their workforces due to weakening profit margins and the increasing ubiquity of fintech and automated branches, which require fewer employees. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the number of employees at financial institutions [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Choi Jung-in, a 33 year-old clinical psychologist, lived with two kittens in a studio in Seoul before the trio moved in with her parents in December. She fondly remembers her first cat, Mango, which she brought in last year, for helping her ease the feelings of loneliness when she [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – The government plans to roll out new insurance plans reserved for electric cars around September, officials said Wednesday, in a move expected to help green car users pay less for premiums. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) were to sign a memorandum [...]
SEOUL, Feb.10 (Korea Bizwire) – With drones at the center of attention as a future growth industry, insurance companies are preparing for serious competition to take the lead in the blue ocean which is insurance for drones. The increasing attention given to drones themselves has provoked interest in the possibility of drone accidents, and indemnity [...]
SEOUL, Nov.24 (Korea Bizwire) – Next week, an online insurance supermarket will open for the first time in Korea. Customers will be able to compare different insurance plans online, and once a decision is made, even sign up for their chosen program. Officials say that by next year, online insurance shopping should be normalized as [...]
SUWON, Nov.10 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of accidents caused by foreigners driving without a valid driver’s license has been increasing rapidly. However, since there is no way for Koreans to receive compensation when a foreign driver without a license causes an accident, there is increasing pressure for legal countermeasures to be introduced. According to [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) -- South Korean insurers are moving to raise premiums for local car owners starting this month, as they cope with rising payment obligations, market watchers said Sunday. According to insurance sector sources, the move comes as the loss ratio for coverage contracts has risen to unsustainable levels recently, forcing many [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top financial regulator said Sunday that it will allow local insurance firms to decide premiums for their insurance policies on their own in a bid to promote price competition in the long-slumped market. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it will remove guidelines for setting insurance premiums from the beginning of 2016. Since 2000, the financial authorities have required local insurers to set aside a certain amount of money to make [...]