Sony Life Announces Current Status of Results of Reinvestigation into Inadvertent Nonpayment of Insurance Claims and Others
April 13, 2007
Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Financial Holdings, today announced the results of its reinvestigation into claims and other payments during the period from April 2001 through March 2006. Today, Sony Life also reported to the Financial Services Agency of Japan the results of its investigation, the cause of issues discovered and measures to prevent recurrence.
With regard to policies for which inadvertent nonpayment of claims and others were discovered, Sony Life immediately began contacting the respective policyholders or policy claim recipients and paying these claims and others as processed. Sony Life deeply regrets the occurrence of these incidents and apologizes sincerely for any inconvenience it has caused. The company is keenly aware of the gravity of the situation and is taking full-fledged efforts to prevent a recurrence as a top management priority. Going forward, Sony Life will keep striving to raise its level of service to customers.
- Results of the Reinvestigation into the Payment Status of Insurance Claims and Others
- Measures to Prevent Recurrence
During the period from April 2001 through March 2006, insurance claims and others were paid on a total of approximately 550 thousand policies, (of which, approximately 510 thousand were for individual life insurance). Of this number, reinvestigation results indicate that inadvertent non-payments, on which additional payment may be necessary, number 243 policies (amounting to a total of ¥18,814 thousand).
Note: In addition 3,732 claims and others for which the company may be liable for payment are under investigation with the necessity to confirm with medical institutions and policyholders. The company expects to announce these results at the end of June 2007, once confirmation is complete.
Sony Life has taken the establishment of a claims payment administrative system as a top management priority for the fiscal year ending in March 2008. To reassure its policyholders, the entire company will work in concert to prevent a recurrence. The company has established a "special project for introduction of countermeasures to strengthen the management structure of the payment of insurance claims and others," which reports directly to Sony Life's President and Representative Director. This project team will provide the company's Executive Officers Board with regular reports on the implementation status of measures to prevent recurrence. The board will confirm these measures, ensuring that the company's management cadre assumes full responsibility.
Note: This is an English-language summary of a Japanese announcement made by Sony Life on April 13, 2007. The summary was prepared by Sony Financial Holdings Inc. solely for the convenience of non-Japanese readers.
