[Becoming an Insurance Insider] Aren't All Agents Just the Same?

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[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyungil] Choi Suim (36, pseudonym), who became pregnant, purchased fetal insurance through an insurance planner she had known for a long time. When she contacted the planner for a child examination, she was informed that the planner no longer works for that insurance company. Without her knowledge, her assigned planner had been changed to someone else. Not knowing who the new planner was, Choi was eventually able to claim insurance benefits only after going through several difficult steps via the call center. Choi said, "I trusted the planner and even enrolled my family in insurance, but now there is no one to take responsibility," expressing her frustration, "I am worried whether I should trust the planner or the insurance company."

The period from signing up for insurance to receiving insurance benefits is not fixed. There are countless cases where insurance benefits are first received after more than 20 years. For this reason, post-management is essential.

However, since the emergence of Corporate Insurance Agencies (GA), insurance planners frequently move from insurance companies to GAs, resulting in cases where contract management is not properly conducted.

According to the insurance industry on the 29th, planners affiliated with GAs are overwhelming insurance company planners. According to the report "Problems and Development Plans of Corporate Agencies (GA) Due to Changes in Insurance Sales Channel Structure" recently released by the National Assembly Legislative Research Office,

As of the end of last year, the number of planners affiliated with GAs reached 232,435. The number of planners affiliated with life and non-life insurance companies was only 91,927 and 94,995, respectively.

The GA system was introduced with the intention of strengthening consumer choice by comparing various insurance products and recommending the optimal product to customers. However, GAs have problems such as high commissions and lack of expertise.

GA planners, who need to have professional knowledge about products, only need to pass the same qualification exam as exclusive insurance company planners, so there is a frequent practice of recommending products focused on high commissions rather than expertise.

When comparing the incomplete sales ratio of GA planners to that of insurance company planners, GA planners have an overwhelmingly higher rate. In 2017, the incomplete sales ratio of GA planners was 0.28%, significantly higher than that of insurance company planners (0.19%).

In 2018, GA was 0.21%, and insurance companies were 0.12%, with the incomplete sales ratio of GA planners still high.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, inspections of GAs revealed unhealthy sales focused on high commissions, false and unfair contract transfers, and even sales under another person's name.

It is known that some planners dismissed from insurance companies or GAs conduct sales by routing contracts under another person's name.

To resolve these issues, it has been pointed out that the introduction of a professional qualification system, related system improvements, introduction of specialized sales companies, strengthening of continuous supervision by financial supervisory authorities, and consideration of outsourcing are necessary.

The insurance industry has mandated that from this year, the incomplete sales rate of planners be indicated on the application form when purchasing insurance. An insurance industry official said, "You can request information about the planner in charge of you," and urged, "You should actively use services that allow you to check the planner's past disciplinary records and incomplete sales rates online."