South Korea regulator flags TV insurance mis-selling
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has identified a significant gap in mis-selling of insurance policies sold through broadcast advertising. The mis-selling rate for these policies is three times higher than for policies sold through other channels, at 0.036% compared to 0.012%.
The FSS also found that persistency rates at the 13th month were lower for broadcast policies, at 79.3% compared to 86.3% for other channels. These findings come as insurers have increased their use of broadcast advertising, with an average of 1,121 spots per day in 2025, up 66.9% from 672 in 2024.
The FSS has raised concerns about the content of insurance advertisements, including repeated broadcasts, provocative wording, and exaggerated expressions. These tactics can contribute to incomplete sales and impulsive purchases. Advertisements that highlight the ability to receive benefits multiple times while downplaying conditions that could limit payments are also a concern.
Examples of problematic advertisements include families caring for sick relatives, grief, and re-enactments of traffic accidents. The FSS held a meeting with the Korea Life Insurance Association, the General Insurance Association of Korea, and other industry stakeholders to discuss changes to broadcast insurance advertising.
Customers aged 70 and over account for a larger share of policies sold through broadcast advertising, at 13.4% compared to 7.4% for other channels. While this does not necessarily mean older customers are more likely to be mis-sold, it does indicate that they make up a larger share of the business generated by this channel.
The FSS has called for stronger internal controls at insurers and general agencies, as well as greater involvement of consumer protection functions in the advertising production stage. The FSS is also seeking wider disclosure of broadcast advertising activity, including the frequency and duration of broadcasts by insurer and the status of industry-led reviews.
The FSS is seeking to strengthen review standards for broadcast advertising and impose more effective sanctions. The current sanction threshold for incomplete sales is 0.4%, which is more than 13 times the industry average of 0.03%. The FSS believes this threshold should be reconsidered, particularly for home-shopping insurance advertisements, which have received only one warning in the past five years.
