The 4S store must have insurance in the store when buying a car? A bank loan is automatically insured? Recently, the reporter of Beijing business daily noted that a group of consumers reflected on the tripartite complaint platform that they were told to buy insurance products together when buying a car at the 4S store, and were forced to tie in and bundle insurance products after borrowing from the online loan platform.
Industry insiders believe that bundling and compulsory tying are short-term actions to overdraw the business reputation of the insurance industry, and insurance enterprises should protect consumers' rights and interests more than infringe.
fined for compulsory insurance, Junlong life: relevant Italian insurance borrowing business has been completely shut down
Buy a house tied to the garage, scenic spot tickets tied to sightseeing tickets Bundling has always touched the sensitive nerves of consumers. Nowadays, 4S stores can't buy a car without buying auto insurance. It's no longer new to buy a car ticket and loan but "be" insured, and there is a growing trend.
Taking the "free ride" of the loan, the loan Italian insurance staged a series of "fancy" rollovers. On March 14, the administrative punishment information released by Guizhou banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau showed that Junlong Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Junlong life") was punished for forcing consumers to take out accident insurance and other illegal acts in the process of borrowing.
In response to the above rectification measures for forcing consumers to take out accident insurance in the process of borrowing, Junlong life told the reporter of Beijing Business Daily that the borrower's accident insurance business was successively carried out in cooperation with third-party insurance intermediaries in February and March 2019. After the business was carried out in 2019, the company found relevant problems in the business through internal and external operation feedback, The Italian insurance business cooperating with third-party insurance intermediaries has been completely shut down on May 30, 2019, and the labor contract with relevant personnel has been terminated before August 15, 2019.
Li Wenzhong, deputy director of the insurance Department of Capital University of economics and trade, said that businesses should look at tying insurance products comprehensively and dialectically. It is reasonable to provide more benefits for consumers on the basis of respecting their choice. On the contrary, it is also inappropriate for businesses to require all consumers who buy specific goods or services to buy designated insurance.
Li Bin, a professional insurance lawyer, said that bundling and compulsory tying of insurance products mainly infringed on consumers' right of independent choice and fair trading. These two sales methods show that insurance companies and consumers have reached a purchase agreement on a micro level. But in essence, consumers are forced to complete, which not only infringes on the two legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but also may have a serious negative impact on the business reputation of insurance companies and the recognition of insurance products. For the insurance company or industry, it is a short-term behavior of eager for quick success and instant benefit and overdrawing the business reputation of the insurance industry.
consumers complain constantly! What is bundling like
Behind the receipt of a regulatory ticket for compulsory tying and bundling of insurance products, a large number of relevant complaints occur frequently. Beijing Business Daily reporter found that more than 10000 complaints related to bundled insurance have been filed through the third-party complaint platform black cat.
It is not difficult to find that most of the relevant complaints involved are concentrated on the loan platform. Most of the complainants said that they borrowed from a loan platform and were bundled with insurance products without knowing it. And bundled in the loan interest, you need to pay a lot of premiums every month.
An anonymous complainant said that it was found that Yi'an insurance had been forcibly bundled with multiple accident insurance through cash loans in installments (the head office is qudian). Another user "after a holding" complained that he was purchased with e-an insurance without the knowledge of the borrowing platform. In addition, insurance companies such as Yong'an insurance and Zijin property insurance have also fallen into the storm of bundling sales.
In addition to the easier "stepping on thunder" of the online loan platform, banks, car dealers and 4S stores also have relevant compulsory tying and bundling insurance in rights protection cases, regulatory fines and media exposure. The reporter of Beijing Business Daily found that some network platforms carry out bundling and tying by means of default check and mandatory check, forcing consumers to buy unnecessary products or services, including accident insurance, isolation allowance insurance, etc. There are also some ticket sellers whose operations are not standardized. When selling tickets, they will acquiesce to the additional purchase of passengers, attach the insurance, and forcibly bundle the tickets and insurance.
4S stores are forced to sell auto insurance, but the purchase of car tickets and loans are "Insured". There are also bundle sales and forced tie-in sales in online loan platforms, banks and other institutions. Then, why are insurance companies and various channels keen on and connive at bundling and compulsory tying of insurance products?
"Commodity tie-in insurance will also bring more business to insurance companies. Therefore, in practice, insurance companies often allow their partners to force tie-in insurance. For loan banks, tie-in insurance can not only prevent loan risks, but also obtain insurance commissions. For other businesses, tie-in insurance is mainly to obtain insurance commissions," Li Wenzhong said
Specifically, 4S store commodity tying insurance will bring more business to it. Li Bin pointed out: "in this sales model, on the one hand, 4S stores obtain a high commission for agent sales of insurance; on the other hand, 4S stores also need to provide insurance companies with a certain scale of premium, so that insurance companies can provide 4S stores with a certain proportion of accident vehicle maintenance workload according to the scale of premium they provide."
From the perspective of consumers, some channels seize the psychology of consumers, forcing consumers to choose bundling and compulsory tying. Li Bin said that previously, there was a default corresponding insurance in ticket sales, which took advantage of the passengers' eagerness to buy tickets. Force consumers to buy relevant insurance products in loans. Mainly in the process of loan, there is a huge gap between the status of consumers and the corresponding financial institutions. In order to achieve the purpose of loan, they have to accept compulsory tying.
how to break the ice? Joint efforts of insurance companies and regulators
In fact, in recent years, bundling and compulsory tying have become the focus of supervision.
In May 2020, six ministries and commissions including the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission jointly issued the notice on further standardizing credit financing charges and reducing the comprehensive cost of enterprise financing (hereinafter referred to as the notice), requiring strict implementation of prohibitions such as loan deposit linkage and compulsory bundling and tying. It is not allowed to force enterprises to purchase insurance, financial management, funds or other asset management products during credit approval.
In 2021, the CBRC issued the measures for the supervision of accidental injury insurance business, which pointed out that a negative list of sales behavior was formulated. For the non-standard problems in the comprehensive accident insurance market, nine types of prohibited sexual behaviors are listed, including bundling, compulsory tying and so on.
Then, why is it difficult to stop the chaos of "bundling" of insurance products? Insiders believe that in this process, insurance companies and regulators have their own responsibilities.
In Li Wenzhong's view, it is difficult to simply prohibit the tying up of insurance companies in the implementation of insurance, because the directly responsible party is not the insurance company, but other businesses or lenders, and insurance companies often deny their participation. Of course, insurance companies often acquiesce to businesses and lenders for their own interests. Regulators can require insurance companies to strengthen the management of part-time agents. When signing a cooperation agreement with the commodity or the lender, it clearly requires the merchant or the lender not to force tying insurance, which infringes on the rights and interests of consumers.
While supervision continues to deepen, insurance companies also need to strengthen compliance awareness in protecting consumers' rights and interests. The relevant person in charge of Junlong life told the Beijing Business Daily that for other types of new businesses, the review mechanism of consumer protection will be introduced. Before the launch of new products, the business process and product related data shall be reviewed by the consumer protection department and accepted before they can be launched for sale to customers.
For consumers, what are the suggestions to avoid the above forced tying and bundling? Junlong life told the reporter of Beijing Business Daily that it is suggested that consumers can quickly feed back through the complaint channels announced by insurance companies such as telephone, official website and official wechat if they encounter acts that infringe on consumers' rights and interests such as compulsory insurance.
Li Wenzhong suggested that, first of all, for consumers, they should ask the other party in detail about the specific contents and conditions of the transaction before the transaction, so as to prevent them from being tied up insurance. Secondly, consumers should clearly claim their rights and require the other party to respect their relevant rights when their right to choose and fair trade is infringed. If there is no effect, you can complain or report to the consumer association or regulatory authorities.
