Consumer response to purchasing insurance policies online has been tepid in the year since regulators approved the service, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed yesterday.
“Consumers seem to prefer simpler policies such as travel insurance for short itineraries of a few days and term life insurance when shopping online,” Insurance Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Yu-hui (張玉煇) told a news conference in Taipei.
In the first nine months of the year, the revenue generated from online policies sales by eight life insurance carriers totaled NT$6.84 million (US$208,925), with a total of 15,100 policies averaging about NT$400 each, Chang said.
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) was the most successful, with 4,900 policies totaling NT$2.6 million sold, followed by Fubon Life Insurance Co’s (富邦人壽) 4,800 policies totaling NT$1.83 million.
Eleven property insurance carriers sold a total of 120,000 policies amounting to NT$145 million in premiums, of which 74,000 policies were for vehicle insurance — with automobile policy premiums totalling NT$64.47 million and motorcycle policy premiums totalling NT$68.57 million.
Fubon Life led the way in revenues in the first three quarters, selling about 10,000 policies with a total of NT$11 million in premiums, followed by South China Insurance Co’s (華南產險) 2,000 policies and NT$2.68 million.
With the commission billing the digitization of financial services as one of its top priorities, Chang said that regulators will continue to remove roadblocks that hamper online insurance policy sales such as limits on the insurance amount.
Current regulations also do not allow policies to be purchased on behalf of another person, such as a family member.
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