Hong Kong receives fewer insurance-related complaints in H1

Complaints about conduct have the most significant number.

Insurance-related complaints in Hong Kong dropped by 26% in H1 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest Conduct In Focus report by the Insurance Authority (IA).

The IA received 533 complaints from 1 January to 30 June 2022, compared to the 723 complaints in 2021.

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The report categorises complaints into five: conduct, representation of information, claims, business or operations, and services.

Definition of complaint categories are as follows:

• Conduct – refers to complaints arising from the process in which insurance is sold, the handling of client’s premiums or monies, cross-border selling, unlicensed selling, allegations of fraud, allegations of forgery of insurance-related documents, commission rebates and “twisting” (i.e. insurance agents inducing their clients to replace their existing policies with those issued by another insurer by misrepresentation, fraudulent or unethical means).
• Representation of Information – refers to complaints relating to the presentation of an insurance product’s features, policy terms and conditions, premium payment terms or returns on investment, dividend or bonus shown on benefit illustrations, etc.
• Claims – refers to complaints in relation to insurance claims. The IA cannot adjudicate insurance claims or order payment of compensation. It can, however, handle complaints related to the process by which claims are handled (e.g. delays in processing, lack of controls or weaknesses in governance, areas of inefficiency in the claims handling process).
• Business or Operations – refers to complaints related to the business or operations of an insurer or insurance intermediary (e.g. cancellation or renewal of the policy, adjustment of premium, underwriting decision, or matters related to the management of the insurer, etc.).
• Services – refers to complaints regarding insurance related servicing by insurers or intermediaries, such as complaints related to the delivery of the premium notice or annual statement, dissatisfaction with services standards etc.

Complaints about Conduct received the most significant number of complaints at 26%. This is followed by complaints on Business or Operations (22%), Representation of Information (20%), Services (16%), and Claims (15%).

The IA also received 24 self-reported complaints from insurers / intermediary firms during the reporting period (versus 15 in the last year), which are excluded from the complaints statistics.

The Conduct in Focus is a periodical published by the IA which presents statistics and commentary on complaints received by the IA and examines topical regulatory issues regarding the way in which insurance is conducted.