NongHyup Life, Meritz Fire top list of insurance firms in consumer complaints

The headquarters of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) located on Yeouido, Seoul / Yonhap

By Anna J. Park

Among local insurers, NongHyup Life Insurance and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance turned out to have received the largest number of consumer complaints last year.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Wednesday, NongHyup Life received an average of 33.3 complaints per 100,000 insurance contracts last year. The figure marks a 24.3 percent increase from the previous year's average of 26.8 complaints, the highest increase among local life insurers in Korea.

A total of four life insurers ― NongHyup Life, KDB Life, KB Life and ABL Life ― posted year-on-year increases in the average annual number of consumer complaints, while the remaining life insurers all logged year-on-year decreases.

KDB Life saw a year-on-year increase of 15.7 percent in its average annual consumer complaints last year, followed by KB Life's 7.6 percent and ABL Life's 0.6 percent increase.

By contrast, Shinhan Life logged the highest year-on-year decrease of 32.6 percent in the number of average annual consumer complaints, with 18.4 complaints filed per 100,000 contracts. Samsung Life and Kyobo Life also saw year-on-year decreases of 23.6 percent and 27 percent, respectively, in the number of complaints last year.

Among non-life insurers, Meritz Fire posted an average of 29.9 complaints per 100,000 insurance contracts last year, a 16.8 percent year-on-year increase from the previous year's 25.6 complaints.

DB Insurance, KB Insurance and MG Non-Life also saw year-on-year increases in the average number of complaints, rising by 10.9 percent, 5.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Hanwha General Insurance, meanwhile, saw the largest year-on-year decrease of 16.4 percent in the number of consumer complaints last year, along with Samsung Fire, which posted a year-on-year decrease of 15.1 percent, while Hyundai Marine & Fire posted a year-on-year decrease of 10.7 percent.

By categories of complaints, 54.3 percent of all of the complaints received by life insurers were about the process of soliciting insurance contracts, while 16.5 percent were about reimbursements for policyholders. In the case of non-life insurers, 47.4 percent of the total complaints were about reimbursements.

The FSS urged consumers to review the details and conditions of their insurance policies thoroughly before signing any contracts.