After many years of hot growth, since 2023, the life insurance industry has gone through an unprecedented difficult period. Although the market has shown signs of a slight recovery since the beginning of 2025, it still cannot be called a boom. At the talk show "Repositioning the life insurance market" organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper on October 3, economic experts, lawyers and representatives of life insurance companies shared many important perspectives on how to make the market operate transparently and regain trust with customers.
Find a repositioning solution
Economist Tran Nguyen Dan emphasized: "For the life insurance market to recover well, it also needs the driving force from customers. However, in the past two years, the difficult financial situation has caused many people's incomes to decrease, and insurance participation has also been affected. If the financial, real estate or investment markets improve, life insurance will also benefit."
Notably, since July 1, the new Law on Insurance Business and its accompanying decrees and circulars have taken effect, tightening the product consultation process and raising the capacity requirements of the agent team. This has forced many life insurance agents to "leave the game", but according to experts, it is a necessary step for the market to develop healthily.
Guests discussed at the talk show "Repositioning the life insurance market" organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper on October 3. Photo: TAN THANH
Mr. Phung Ba Khang, Deputy General Director of Marketing and Commitment Value Planning, AIA Vietnam, commented: "Compared to many countries in the region, the Vietnamese life insurance market is still quite young and is currently undergoing an adjustment period after a period of hot growth. This is inevitable, leading to challenges in revenue, profit and customer trust. But from another perspective, this is an opportunity for life insurance to reposition itself. New policies and laws will help the market operate more transparently and according to standards, creating a foundation for trust to be restored."
According to Mr. Khang, to restore customer confidence, life insurance companies must proactively change, putting them at the center of all strategies. Mr. Khang said that AIA Vietnam is implementing the "Customer-centric" orientation, with the highlight being the "Premium Agent 3.0" strategy to build a full-time, professional and dedicated consulting force through in-depth training. Not only financial protection, AIA also provides comprehensive health care solutions through the AIA Vitality program, encouraging customers to maintain a healthy lifestyle; cooperate with Teladoc Health to deploy parallel medical services to support cancer and serious illness patients...
"Our goal is to turn life insurance into a part of a healthy lifestyle, long-term peace of mind, creating a more sustainable and humane market," Mr. Khang emphasized.
Need to be "tough" in management
Expert Tran Nguyen Dan said that many disputes in recent times between customers and insurance companies mainly arose from the behavior of agents. Therefore, the responsibility of life insurance companies is to strictly control this team, and need to be "tougher" in managing the quality of agents.
"If a dispute occurs, the agent's responsibility must be reviewed, not the customer. Even if the business wins the lawsuit, the damage to its reputation is huge," Mr. Dan acknowledged. According to him, the role of marketing, transparent communication, as well as goodwill dialogue outside of court between the two parties is essential to maintain trust with customers.
As a person who has participated in handling many life insurance disputes, lawyer Nguyen Khac Thanh Dat (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, life insurance expert) believes that insurance companies must wholeheartedly comply with legal regulations, and must not act perfunctorily or carelessly in the process of building products and managing the quality of the consulting team. Carelessness in consulting or designing contracts not only causes legal risks but also directly erodes market confidence.
For customers, Mr. Dat emphasized the need for a change in perception. Accordingly, life insurance is not a short-term speculative tool for profit, but a means of financial protection against life risks, while also having a long-term savings element.
"Life insurance participants need to choose the right product for their needs and financial capabilities. Customers must carefully read the rules and terms of the contract, declare information fully and honestly, and avoid letting agents do things carelessly, affecting their rights. The most important thing is to maintain premium payment for at least the first 3-4 years to ensure long-term benefits," Mr. Dat recommended.
Transparency with insurance buyers
Lawyer Nguyen Khac Thanh Dat said that in recent years, life insurance companies have faced thousands of lawsuits, forcing them to refund fees of up to VND800-900 billion. The reasons are very diverse, from refusing to pay insurance benefits due to changes in medical regulations, to disputes because customers made inaccurate declarations when signing contracts.
Because customers are subjective, signing contracts but not keeping the original, leading to disadvantages when disputes arise. In addition, when deciding cases, courts often only apply Civil Law, not basing on specialized documents on finance or insurance, making customers fall into an even weaker position.
"Customers are often the weaker party, due to lack of legal knowledge and unclear understanding of regulations. Therefore, there needs to be more fairness and transparency in the way life insurance disputes are handled to protect their legitimate rights," said Mr. Dat.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/tai-dinh-vi-thi-truong-bao-hiem-nhan-tho-196251003210532365.htm
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