ANOTHER 4,365 UNPAID CLAIMS UNCOVERED BY JAPANESE INSURERS

Japan’s six major non-life insurers yesterday admitted to the non-payment of a further 4,365 valid claims for so-called third-sector policies. The internal investigations were ordered in July by the Financial Services Agency regulator. Yesterday Mitsui Sumitomo admitted to 1,140 unpaid claims, Sompo revealed 975, Nipponkoa admitted to 833, followed by Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire with 805. Aioi revealed 470 cases and Nissay Dowa admitted to 142 cases. The total sum of unpaid benefits reached ¥1.2bn. These disclosures are in addition to the unpaid claims admitted in September relating to motor policies. The presidents of the companies apologised for the mispayments and said that in-house penalties would be considered. The investigations found that the insurers had frequently made assessments based on conjecture, while in cases of an unclear relationship between a pre-existing condition and an illness contracted after the sale of a policy, in many cases insurers rejected payment on the grounds that they were related. The criteria used to assess claims varied from insurer to insurer.