FSC Relaxes Rules for Insurer Customer Care, Allowing In-Person and Video Visits
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has relaxed regulations for the insurance industry's customer care visits. In addition to phone calls, in-person and video call visits are now permitted, and notifications for unreachable customers can be sent via SMS or email.
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- 📰 Published: April 21, 2026 at 22:52
- 🔍 Collected: April 21, 2026 at 23:02 (9 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 22, 2026 at 01:27 (2h 25m after Collected)
(Central News Agency, Taipei, 21st) The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced today that to enhance convenience for the public when purchasing insurance, the methods for insurers conducting customer care calls for bancassurance channels have been expanded. In addition to telephone interviews, new channels such as in-person visits, video calls, and other approved methods are now available. Furthermore, for the procedure of sending registered mail to remind policyholders of relevant risks when phone contact is unsuccessful, options like SMS, email, or app push notifications have been added. The relevant regulations have officially taken effect.
The FSC stated today that it has amended Article 11-2 of the "Directions for Banks, Insurance Companies, Insurance Agents, or Insurance Brokers Handling Bancassurance Business" to promote digital financial services, enhance the convenience for the public purchasing insurance through bank channels, and optimize insurers' care call operations for bancassurance cases.
Thomas Tsai, Deputy Director-General of the FSC's Insurance Bureau, explained the key amendments. First, to allow insurers to use diverse methods for conducting customer care for bancassurance policyholders, in addition to telephone interviews, options like in-person visits, video conferencing, remote interviews, or other FSC-approved care visit measures have been added.
Second, Tsai pointed out that considering the existing "Regulations Governing Insurance Solicitation, Underwriting and Claim Adjusting" Article 6 and "Directions for the Sale of Investment-Linked Insurance Products" Item 6 already require insurers to conduct care calls for elderly clients before underwriting, and Article 12 of the "Self-Regulatory Code for Control of Insurance Solicitation and Underwriting Operations" set by the Life and Non-life Insurance Associations already mandates random call-backs for at least 25% of new contracts, the regulations regarding elderly and random call-backs in these Directions have been deleted to simplify insurers' call operations.
Third, for the procedure of sending registered mail reminders to policyholders about relevant risks when phone contact is unsuccessful or refused, digital methods such as SMS, email, or app push notifications have been added. It is also stipulated that for notifications sent via digital means, the insurer must ensure the notification has been delivered and read. If a notification is not read after three attempts, the insurer must still send a registered mail reminder.
Fourth, the retention period for audio or video recordings of care visits has been extended from the original 2 years to 5 years.
The FSC also pre-announced amendments to the "Regulations Governing Insurance Solicitation, Underwriting and Claim Adjusting" and "Directions for the Sale of Investment-Linked Insurance Products" at the end of last year. The FSC stated today that these will officially come into force after the pre-announcement period ends.
Tsai noted that the amendments now allow insurance companies to establish their own measures for protecting policyholders' rights. Previously, when selling investment-linked or traditional policies with cash surrender value to clients over 65, insurers had to take extra steps like recording the sales process or conducting pre-underwriting calls. In the future, insurance companies can assess a client's cognitive or mental functions based on practical experience, establish their own criteria and protective measures for client vulnerability, and report them to the FSC for recordation, thereby exempting them from the original requirements.
Furthermore, the FSC has revised the frequency of self-audits for business units dealing with investment-linked policies. Tsai explained that due to more disputes in the early stages of these products, insurers were asked to strengthen self-audits of solicitation and underwriting. As this has been in practice for over 20 years, a review was conducted. Considering that companies already perform regular and special audits, the frequency of self-audits by business units for investment-linked policies has been adjusted from quarterly to semi-annually. (Editor: Yang Lan-hsuan) 1150421
The FSC stated today that it has amended Article 11-2 of the "Directions for Banks, Insurance Companies, Insurance Agents, or Insurance Brokers Handling Bancassurance Business" to promote digital financial services, enhance the convenience for the public purchasing insurance through bank channels, and optimize insurers' care call operations for bancassurance cases.
Thomas Tsai, Deputy Director-General of the FSC's Insurance Bureau, explained the key amendments. First, to allow insurers to use diverse methods for conducting customer care for bancassurance policyholders, in addition to telephone interviews, options like in-person visits, video conferencing, remote interviews, or other FSC-approved care visit measures have been added.
Second, Tsai pointed out that considering the existing "Regulations Governing Insurance Solicitation, Underwriting and Claim Adjusting" Article 6 and "Directions for the Sale of Investment-Linked Insurance Products" Item 6 already require insurers to conduct care calls for elderly clients before underwriting, and Article 12 of the "Self-Regulatory Code for Control of Insurance Solicitation and Underwriting Operations" set by the Life and Non-life Insurance Associations already mandates random call-backs for at least 25% of new contracts, the regulations regarding elderly and random call-backs in these Directions have been deleted to simplify insurers' call operations.
Third, for the procedure of sending registered mail reminders to policyholders about relevant risks when phone contact is unsuccessful or refused, digital methods such as SMS, email, or app push notifications have been added. It is also stipulated that for notifications sent via digital means, the insurer must ensure the notification has been delivered and read. If a notification is not read after three attempts, the insurer must still send a registered mail reminder.
Fourth, the retention period for audio or video recordings of care visits has been extended from the original 2 years to 5 years.
The FSC also pre-announced amendments to the "Regulations Governing Insurance Solicitation, Underwriting and Claim Adjusting" and "Directions for the Sale of Investment-Linked Insurance Products" at the end of last year. The FSC stated today that these will officially come into force after the pre-announcement period ends.
Tsai noted that the amendments now allow insurance companies to establish their own measures for protecting policyholders' rights. Previously, when selling investment-linked or traditional policies with cash surrender value to clients over 65, insurers had to take extra steps like recording the sales process or conducting pre-underwriting calls. In the future, insurance companies can assess a client's cognitive or mental functions based on practical experience, establish their own criteria and protective measures for client vulnerability, and report them to the FSC for recordation, thereby exempting them from the original requirements.
Furthermore, the FSC has revised the frequency of self-audits for business units dealing with investment-linked policies. Tsai explained that due to more disputes in the early stages of these products, insurers were asked to strengthen self-audits of solicitation and underwriting. As this has been in practice for over 20 years, a review was conducted. Considering that companies already perform regular and special audits, the frequency of self-audits by business units for investment-linked policies has been adjusted from quarterly to semi-annually. (Editor: Yang Lan-hsuan) 1150421