China: Insurance consumer confidence index improves in 2016
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Apr 2017
Chinese consumers have shown increased confidence in insurance products and in the industry. The consumer confidence index for insurance stood at 71.2 for last year, an improvement on the 69.2 mark reported for 2015, which was the first time the poll was conducted.
CIRC and China Insurance Guarantee Fund jointly released the 2016 Consumer Confidence Index Report on 15 March, which is the annual Consumers’ Day. The report was based on a survey last year of about 60,000 consumers in China conducted through internet, telephone and street interviews.
China Insurance Guarantee Fund President Ren Jianguo said: “Most interviewees are optimistic about the growth potential of the sector and the macroeconomic environment.”
The survey found that 83% of interviewees believed that they could spend more on buying insurance products and nearly 80% of respondents said they were able to make rational purchase decisions.
It found that consumers trust insurance companies the most for purchasing insurance products, while they have less confidence in insurance intermediaries and internet finance companies.
The respondents also said insurance services should be made more convenient and they hoped the settlement of claims could be more efficient, with procedures more simplified and less restrictive.
The Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau at CIRC, Lyu Zhou, said it would be a major problem if consumers had no trust in the industry, so the regulator was gratified to see the improvement in the consumer confidence index.