Industry works to restore consumer confidence

Non-payment of claims and miscalculation of premium rates in the past year have attracted bad press

The central theme of the non-life insurers’ survey for the financial year which closed at the end of March 2008 is the industry’s efforts to improve customer service and restore consumer confidence following a series of inadvertent non-payment of claims and miscalculation of premium rates in an era of rising competitive pressures. Mr Toshiaki Egashira, chairman of the General Insurance Association of Japan, attributes these mistakes – which received wide press coverage and policyholder complaints – to the offer of new products which insurers were not sufficiently familiar with.