In the realm of internet insurance, advertisements often highlight enticing features such as “one million” coverage, “covering over a hundred critical illnesses,” and “limited-time offers.” However, the reality of these products often falls short of their promises. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the true state of internet insurance products, the Shanghai Consumers’ Protection Committee recently collaborated with Fudan University to conduct an evaluation. The research team selected 10 mainstream internet insurance sales platforms and leading insurance intermediaries, examining a total of 150 insurance product samples from 35 insurance companies. These samples included 80 medical insurance products, 30 critical illness insurance products, and 40 accident insurance products.
The Reality Behind the “One Million” Coverage
The evaluation revealed that the “one million” coverage claimed by the “Daily Insurance One Million” accident insurance product actually refers to the compensation limit for accidental medical expenses. This compensation operates on a reimbursement model, meaning it does not exceed the actual medical expenses incurred. The so-called “one million” is merely the upper limit of reimbursement, with a high deductible of 5,000 yuan. Moreover, the coverage for accidental death and disability in this product is a mere 10,000 yuan.
Marketing Tactics and Consumer Misunderstandings
Xu Xian, Vice President of the Institute of Insurance Application Innovation at Fudan University, pointed out that online insurance sales pages typically emphasize “high coverage, low premiums, and fast claims settlement” to quickly build consumers’ purchase intentions. Marketing semantics are designed to highly enhance perceived benefits. For instance, some internet intermediaries use “hunger marketing” tactics, marking information like “Only XX orders left today” on product sales pages to create a sense of urgency and prompt consumers to place orders without fully understanding and evaluating the product information.
While such “lightweight” designs can increase underwriting efficiency, they also magnify users’ misunderstandings regarding the boundaries of protection. In practice, users often encounter situations where protection does not match or is not applicable. Additionally, the interface display of the product at the sales end is relatively simple, making it difficult to clearly explain professional insurance contents such as the deductible clause, health declaration, and waiting period. Without professional assistance, ordinary consumers are prone to misunderstandings.
Lack of Clear Coverage and Human Customer Service
Many insurance products vaguely state “covering 100/120 major diseases” on the sales page but do not provide a complete list of diseases or disease examples. The specific types of diseases can only be found in the insurance terms, making it difficult for consumers to quickly determine the coverage. Some accident insurance products include medical liability for accidents but do not clearly indicate the scope of hospitals that can be reimbursed, leading consumers to mistakenly believe that all hospitals are eligible for compensation. In reality, some high-end or private hospitals may be excluded.
The absence of human customer service is another pain point for consumers. Human customer service representatives should take on the responsibility of explaining terms, responding to questions, and handling disputes at key junctures. However, in actual operation, human customer service is seriously lacking, weakening the product’s ability to explain and negotiate and blocking opportunities to build trust with users. Some platforms’ products claim to offer human customer service, but consumers find that they can only use an AI question-and-answer system when they actually consult.
Recommendations for Improvement
To address these issues, Tang Jiansheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Consumers’ Rights Protection Committee, suggested enhancing the transparency of online insurance information to safeguard consumers’ right to know. Regulatory requirements should not be met merely by the form of the insurance application agreement document, especially in aspects such as the deductible, coverage liability, and renewal terms. Regulatory authorities should promote the establishment of industry standards, clarify behavioral rules for information display, and prevent important content from weakening users’ perception through default folding or downplaying the text.
Xu Xian also pointed out that current internet insurance sales platforms prioritize user conversion rates, which can lead to “insufficient user understanding.” The design of sales paths should be promoted to shift towards a dual-guarantee logic of “full user understanding + autonomous decision-making.” The platform should introduce “Key Terms Confirmation” and “multi-step display and confirmation” mechanisms to guide users to gradually understan
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