Underinsurance
concerns |
Japan
sector
JAPANESE insurers have
expressed concern that most companies and individuals in Japan
are underinsured in the event of a major earthquake hitting the country. And
they have also voiced serious fears over the continuing escalation of motor
theft-related claims in Japan,
which in the past 12 months have been the worst on record. |
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The problems were raised by
chairman of the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ) Ken Matsuzawa in
his annual report to members, which has just been released. |
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Mr Matsuzawa said insurers are
concerned there might be a big earthquake in the Tokai region or another area
in the near future. |
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He pointed out that the
national average dissemination rate of earthquake insurance on dwelling risks
remains low. "The GIAJ has promoted earthquake insurance for some
time," he said. |
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Last year the GIAJ implemented
an earthquake insurance promotion campaign. A forum was held by the Radio
Committee of the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters to educate the
public about the importance of disaster prevention. Mr Matsuzawa said that last
year large-scale earthquakes with a seismic intensity of 6 occurred in Tohoku
in May and in July and in Hokkaido
in September. |
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"Claims payment for these
earthquakes reached (Y)9.5bn ($87m). Claims payment for heavy rain in Shizuoka
and Kyushu in July and typhoons Number 10 and Number 14
in August and September reached about (Y)28.9bn. Claims payment is one of the
most important roles for general insurance companies and is central to their
function. Our member companies continuously make efforts for prompt and proper
claim payments." |
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Mr Matsuzawa said GIAJ has
continued its efforts on crime prevention and he disclosed that motor theft at
64,000 last year was the worst in Japan's
history, according to the National Police Agency. "The claims paid by our
21 member companies amounted to (Y)58.3bn, an increase of (Y)0.1bn over the
previous year," he said. |
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The GIAJ has promoted various
motor theft prevention measures, including the nationwide Anti-Theft Campaign
on October 7. The Automobile Theft Prevention Council, which is operated
jointly by governments and the private sector, was set up in 44 prefectures in
Japan. |
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Mr Matsuzawa said that compared
with last year by month, the number of motor thefts from last October to this April
decreased for seven consecutive months. "This shows our efforts are
gaining reward," he added. October 7 was chosen because in Japanese the
sound of the date is similar to the word for theft. |
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He said there has been an
increase in such crimes as lock-picking burglaries and snatch-and-run, and the
GIAJ did a survey of incidents as a result. |
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It said 10 out of 234 incidents
were shown on its website to increase public awareness. It also solicited
information on crime prevention activities by communities under the auspices of
the National Police Agency last December. And it gave an award to some of the
activities that were selected among more than 100 activities in May this year. |
In addition to these two major
concerns, Mr Matsuzawa said the GIAJ has studied terrorism risk insurance pools
in other countries and exchanged views and information with related bodies on
the idea of the introduction of a corporate terrorism risk insurance scheme in
Japan. Mr Matsuzawa said the GIAJ will "continue to pay attention to
corporate needs for terrorism risk insurance".
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