FSS Issues Consumer Alert on Briefing Insurance Sales
Careful Consideration Needed Before Purchasing Insurance Products
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued a warning on the 2nd regarding so-called briefing sales, where consumers are lured under the pretext of 'free celebrity lectures' and then insurance products are sold before the lecture begins under the guise of sponsor promotion.
Briefing sales are conducted by gathering a large number of consumers under the pretext of providing free corporate mandatory education or celebrity lectures, then providing information about insurance products and concluding insurance contracts.
The FSS revealed that, after conducting undercover inspections on-site, briefing sales emphasize only the advantages of insurance products in a short period, raising concerns about consumer harm.
Celebrity free lecture briefing sales mainly attract people by introducing opportunities to apply for free lectures or performances by celebrities or famous figures on parenting-related social networking services (SNS) or the internet.
Subsequent on-site sales proceed in the order of pre-recreation, insurance product introduction, contract signing, and celebrity lecture. During the pre-recreation, the instructor conducts a prize event (about 20 minutes) to capture attendees' attention and introduces the briefing sales planners.
The briefing sales planners introduce insurance products under the pretext of financial education and financial consulting. Then, they receive application forms from those interested in subscribing and proceed with the contract signing process in a separate location with the planner, promising detailed explanations.
The planners mainly emphasize the importance of savings for retirement funds, children's tuition, etc., to housewives attending the free lectures and introduce no-surrender-value short-term payment whole life insurance as a savings method. However, whole life insurance is a protection-type insurance, not a savings financial product. Although premiums are relatively low, caution is needed as the surrender value upon early cancellation may be less than or even zero compared to the premiums paid.
Additionally, they induce unnecessary subscriptions through clearance marketing, such as claiming that tax benefits will disappear if laws change or that sales are only possible until this month. This also requires caution because the insurance product may not actually be scheduled for discontinuation, or even if sales stop, similar products with comparable coverage may be reintroduced.
The FSS emphasized that briefing sales are not group subscriptions under favorable conditions but individual subscriptions, so caution is necessary.
An FSS official stated, "Do not rely solely on information heard at briefing sales sites; carefully check the contents of insurance policies and product brochures," and added, "Even if you have concluded an insurance contract, you should carefully read and understand the questions during the happy call and respond accordingly to protect consumer rights."
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