Hong Kong: Regulator looks at conduct issues for agents selling insurance from temporary booths

| 19 May 2021

Hong Kong's insurance regulator, the Insurance Authority (IA) has published its latest issue of 'Conduct In Focus', featuring the recent trend of insurance agents promoting insurance products in public places such as temporary booths and vacant retail outlets and related possible conduct issues.

“An issue we observe is that certain “self-made” marketing materials and banners used in these sale activities to “hook” the customer’s attention, may sometimes not be approved by the insurance agents’ appointing principals, as required by the Code of Conduct for Licensed Insurance Agents,” it said in a statement.

“We also emphasise the importance of providing adequate time and information to prospective customers during these activities, so they can make informed decisions.”

The IA stressed that while such street-level sale activities can be an effective way of making potential customers aware of the importance of insurance, it is imperative that they are conducted professionally and that the customers’ interests are always put first.

Conduct In Focus also has a new feature called “Policyholder Corner” which provides practical guidance to the public on buying insurance or dealing with insurance matters based on the lessons learned from the complaints which the IA receives.

“In Policyholder Corner, we look at problems which could arise when purchasing insurance policies from intermediaries who are family members or friends, and how to avoid such problems,” said the regulator.

“We also alert the public to certain scams using fraudulent websites to impersonate legitimate insurance broker companies or which create fictional insurers.”

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