Large Gap Between Men (6.9%) and Women (9.6%)
16 Times Higher Than General Golf Insurance Payout Rate
Estimated Due to Short Distances and 'Substitute Trick'
As domestic insurance companies continue to launch hole-in-one insurance for screen golf courses, attention is focusing on the 'payout rate,' which is the actual amount of insurance money that can be claimed after signing up. In particular, the payout rate was found to vary depending on gender.
According to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, a major seller of hole-in-one insurance, the payout rate (number of claims/number of subscriptions) for screen hole-in-one insurance sold by companies over the past year averaged 8.0%.
The payout rate for hole-in-one insurance sold for regular golf courses is 0.5%. This means the payout rate for screen golf hole-in-one insurance is about 16 times higher than that of regular golf insurance.
Hole-in-one insurance is a mini insurance product that provides a kind of 'congratulatory money' when a hole-in-one is achieved at a screen golf course. Most cases involve a small amount product where the player pays around 1,000 to 2,000 won before starting the game to subscribe.
Notably, the payout rate differs by gender. The insurance payout rate for male subscribers was 6.9%, while for females it was much higher at 9.6%. For females, the probability of receiving hole-in-one insurance money was higher than males in all age groups except those in their 30s. Among those aged 70 and above, the gap widened to more than double, with males at 5.7% and females at 11.4%.
Why does this difference occur? Unlike regular golf courses, screen golf courses are controlled environments, making it more likely to achieve high scores. Also, since women tend to play from relatively shorter distances, their probability of a hole-in-one may be higher than that of men. However, it is also suspected that some insurance fraud occurs through so-called 'tricks,' where someone else hits the ball on behalf of the player.
The surge in hole-in-one insurance is also driven by the sharp increase in the domestic golf population. According to data from the Korea Leisure Industry Research Institute, the domestic golf population reached 5.64 million in 2021, which is over 400,000 more than Japan's 5.2 million. Especially compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, it increased sharply by 20.1% (945,000 people).
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