Even if You Enroll in Group Indemnity Insurance, Individual Indemnity Insurance Will Not Be Suspended

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Although employees are enrolled in group personal medical expense insurance through their companies, the use of the temporary suspension system for individual personal medical expense insurance remains low.

Group personal medical expense insurance offers less coverage compared to individual personal medical expense insurance, which may result in no benefits being paid. Additionally, if individuals suspend their personal insurance and later resume it, the insurance terms may change.

According to the non-life insurance industry on the 28th, since the implementation of the temporary suspension system for individual personal medical expense insurance in December 2018, the total number of applications across 10 major non-life insurers (Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance, Hanwha General Insurance, Lotte Insurance, MG Insurance, Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, KB Insurance, DB Insurance, NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance) has been 10,784.

Considering the total volume of group personal medical expense insurance policies (3.61 million) as of the end of 2019 and the market share of non-life insurers in personal medical expense insurance (over 80%), it is estimated that less than 1% of group contracts have utilized the temporary suspension system for individual personal medical expense insurance.

This system was introduced to prevent double payment of premiums, but actual usage rates remain low.

An industry official from the non-life insurance sector stated, "Although companies and organizations provide group personal medical expense insurance, employees generally find it more advantageous to maintain their individual personal medical expense insurance and thus rarely use the suspension system."