Insurance Authority extends the validity of temporary facilitative measures to 31 December 2020

4 September 2020

In view of the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Insurance Authority (IA) today (4 September 2020) issued a circular to authorized long-term insurers announcing the extension of temporary facilitative measures for non-face-to-face distribution of specific protective insurance products to 31 December 2020. The scope of products covered and the implementation details of the measures remain unchanged.

Products covered by the temporary facilitative measures include Qualifying Deferred Annuity Policy (QDAP), Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) products, term life policies, and refundable policies without substantial savings component or renewable policies without cash value that provide insurance protection. Insurers and intermediaries can distribute those products via different non-face-to-face means, such as digital, telemarketing, postal or video conferencing, but are required to make upfront disclosure at the point-of-sale and provide an extended cooling-off period of no less than 30 calendar days for the protection of policy holders.

The IA has been encouraging insurers to expedite the adoption of Insurtech to combat challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from distribution with the temporary facilitative measures, insurers can also apply under the Insurtech Sandbox to conduct trials enabling virtual onboarding of customers via video conferencing tools for a wider array of insurance products beyond those covered by the temporary facilitative measures. Details about the requirements for the relevant Insurtech Sandbox applications have been outlined in a circular issued on 5 August 2020.

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