The Insurance Complaints Bureau (ICB) of Hong Kong has posted its annual numbers, revealing that the sector saw a yearly increase in complaints driven by policies relating to hospitalization, medical, and life and critical illness.
In total, the bureau recorded 695 cases, 607 of which were new. This represents an 18.6% rise over 2021’s 512 cases. Out of the 695 recorded, 216 were dismissed because they did not fall within the terms of reference of the ICB. As for the remaining 479 cases, 379 cases were closed while the remaining 100 were carried forward to 2023.
According to the report, 359 complaints were claims-related, with hospitalization, medical, life, and critical illness policies constituting the largest claims disputes figures. 75 of these cases were mutually settled between the insurers and the complainants.
The figures also revealed that 89 complainants received a total of HK$8.16 million in claims compensation, with HK$6.59 million from mutual settlements and HK$1.57 million from awards made by the complaints panel. The largest award given to a single complainant was HK$400,000.
As for non-claim related complaints, the 20 recorded last year related to contractual matters, operational issues, company policies, misrepresentation, and policy returns. Three of the non-claims related cases were closed between the discretion of the complainant and the insurer, amounting to around HK$8,2000. Nine of the other cases had no prima facie evidence and the remaining eight were withdrawn by the claimants.
Elsewhere in the city-state, the Insurance Authority (IA) of Hong Kong has put out a warning regarding fraudulent payment requests purporting to be made by the regulator.
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