Did you know that China's State Administration of Finance and Insurance Supervision (hereinafter referred to as the "Financial Regulatory Bureau") is currently organizing a nationwide clean-up of life insurance "sleeping policies"?
Do you know what a "sleep policy" is? This may be related to the policies you have purchased in China, as well as important matters such as the survival benefits (Note 1), insurance benefits (Note 2) and cash value (Note 3) associated with these policies. Therefore, the clean-up of the "sleep policy" has attracted extensive attention and discussion among the Chinese public, overseas Chinese and foreigners who purchase insurance policies in China. In this regard, we will briefly explain the clean-up matters of the "sleep policy" for the reference of Chinese and foreign personnel in Japan, so please pay attention.
1. What is a "Sleep Policy" and what is the scope of the Clearance?
The so-called "sleeping policy" is simply a policy that cannot find the policyholder or beneficiary and is forgotten.
The scope of the "sleep policy" mainly includes life insurance policies, excluding property insurance policies.
2. The main clean-up content of this "sleep policy".
(1) Indemnify the insurance policy for which the insurance money has not been collected
(2) Policies that have not been paid at maturity
(3) The validity of the contract is suspended or terminated
It should be noted that the above policies mainly refer to policies that have not been claimed for one year due to the claims, premiums or cash value incurred between 1 January 2013 and 30 June 2023. For "sleeping policies" in other periods, they are not within the scope of this liquidation by the Financial Supervision Bureau.
3. Why do you need to sort out the "sleep policy"?
In practice, some Chinese or foreigners in Japan may also have purchased life insurance during their time in China, but they may forget it due to a long period of time, especially the elderly who do not inform their family members about the purchase, or the insurance renewal is interrupted due to the failure of the insurance company after the contact information of the person and his family members change, resulting in the invalidation of the policy and the policy becoming a "sleeping policy". Therefore, for policyholders, it is necessary to check whether they or their family members have a "sleep policy", otherwise it may cause many risks and losses, such as the following risks:
(1) There is a risk that the insured will lose the insurance protection due to the interruption of the payment of insurance premiums
If the insurance contract is not paid on time and the policy is suspended, there may be a situation where the claim cannot be paid in the event of an insured event.
It should be noted that in practice, the insurance company will have the right to terminate the contract after the suspension of the validity of most types of policies beyond the prescribed period of 2 years, and the insured will have the risk of permanently losing the insurance coverage.
(2) Risk of loss of profits
In practice, if the insured or the policyholder fails to receive the insurance compensation or insurance money or the remaining cash value at the agreed time, and the insurance contract does not stipulate the investment rules of the fund account, then the uncollected funds will remain in the insurance company's account within the specified period, and the insurance company will not take the initiative to pay the insured or beneficiary, and the funds will not accrue interest over time, resulting in loss of interests.
4. How do I know if I have a "sleep policy"?
For the insured or the policyholder, if they are not sure whether they have a "sleep policy", they can make inquiries through the "sleep policy" information query platform established by the relevant institutions under the guidance of the China Financial Regulatory Bureau-"Jinshitong" APP.
However, it should be noted that real-name authentication is required when using the APP, and currently only supports real-name authentication for Chinese nationals with ID numbers, and does not support foreigners to use passport numbers for authentication. How to inquire about foreign personnel still needs to be further improved and adjusted by the Chinese government departments.
5. Suggestions for Chinese and foreign nationals in Japan
The time of this special clean-up work is from October 2023 to September 2024. Therefore, all Chinese and foreigners in Japan should take advantage of this clean-up work to deal with their or their family's "sleep insurance policies" in a timely manner, if they are not processed in time, they may not be able to withdraw them after expiration, or they may not be able to remit money overseas through proper channels due to the inability to obtain the certificate provided by the relevant institutions.
And in practice, because different regions and different insurance companies deal with the surrender of "sleep policies" and other normal policies differently, and the policyholder or beneficiary is usually required to go to the site to go through the relevant procedures. Therefore, surrendering the policy, reinstating the policy or receiving the insurance benefit may require multiple negotiations and trade-offs with the insurance company. For Chinese or foreign nationals in Japan who cannot travel back and forth to China multiple times to process the "sleep policy", they can consider entrusting a lawyer with local experience in China to handle it.
In addition to the "dormant policy", you may also need to pay attention to the bank account in China, if it is not used within the specified period, the bank may be converted into a "dormant" account, and it will not be possible to make transactions such as mobile banking transfers, ATM cash withdrawals, etc., and you may need to go to China to complete the relevant procedures. Therefore, it is also necessary for Chinese and foreign nationals in Japan to pay attention to and properly handle their accounts and associated assets. In dealing with the above-mentioned related matters, it is necessary to consult and communicate with experienced lawyers in China because they may involve financial, legal, tax and other issues in China.
Note 1: Survival money, also known as survival insurance money, refers to the insurance money paid by the insurance company to the survival beneficiary of the policy in accordance with the contract during the validity period of the insurance contract, which is an additional fixed income obtained by the insured or the beneficiary of the policy in addition to the protection of the policy.
Note 2: Insurance money refers to the amount paid by the insurance company to the insured or beneficiary in accordance with the insurance contract after the occurrence of an insured event.
Note 3: Cash value refers to the amount refunded by the insurance company to the policyholder when the policyholder surrenders the policy or the insurance company terminates the insurance contract.
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