The "authorized representative claimant designation system," which allows family members to receive insurance payouts on behalf of policyholders who forget they are enrolled or have difficulty filing claims due to dementia, will be overhauled. The system, previously limited to dementia insurance, will be expanded to cancer, brain, and cardiovascular disease insurance, and authorized representative claimants can be designated without family members' consent to share personal information.
The Financial Supervisory Service announced improvements to the system on the 29th. The move aims to reduce cases in which people do not file claims because they do not recognize their insurance enrollment after developing dementia. In fact, the designation rate for authorized representative claimants in dementia insurance fell from 26% in 2021 to 23.1% in the first half of this year.
The core change is the introduction of a "non-named authorized representative claimant." Previously, designating a specific person, such as a spouse or child, required consent to provide personal information. Going forward, it will be permissible to designate a spouse or lineal relatives in a comprehensive manner, allowing registration without a separate consent process. However, payouts will be made to the policyholder's own account, not the representative's account.
The named representative claim procedure will also be streamlined. Excessive personal information consent, such as requests by some insurers to view insurance subscription history, will be abolished, and only minimal information—name, contact information, and relationship to the policyholder—will be required.
The scope of application will also be broadened. The system, which currently applies only to dementia insurance, will be expanded to cancer, brain, and cardiovascular disease insurance in the second half of this year. It will be rolled out in stages depending on each insurer's preparations.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will apply the improvements to new contracts starting on the 1st of next month and plans to inform existing dementia insurance policyholders about the non-named authorized representative claimant system through Alimtalk and other channels.