Local media reports that the China Insurance Regulatory Commission has fined MetLife CNY100,000 for irregular telephone sales procedures.
It is said that in its telephone sales campaign in June this year, MetLife did not mention a number of important points including: the risks involved, the cooling off period, and possible losses resulting from early termination of insurance policies. A recording made during the telesales calls revealed that the company's salespeople did not mention these points when promoting their products to consumers.
Li Jia, the person in charge of the direct marketing at MetLife, said they had received a penal notice from CIRC and would respect the commission's decision.
CIRC's records shows that in the first three quarters of this year, CIRC had dispatched 1,305 inspection teams, a total of 5,029 people, to conduct on-site checks of 1,413 insurance companies and branches. The main infractions of these insurance companies included false business expense statements and false policy billing returns.
