The Financial Services Agency will issue business improvement orders to more than 20 nonlife insurers for failing to pay insurance claims, sources said Wednesday.
The financial watchdog may issue orders to the firms this week, including major Japanese insurers Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. and Aioi Insurance Co.
All have been found negligent in making payments, the sources said.
In late September, the FSA asked the nation's 48 nonlife insurers, including foreign firms, to examine their records from the last three years to see if they failed to make payouts in cases related to auto accidents, and for policies involving extra coverage.
More than 20 companies so far have confirmed they failed to make payments, while 18 have publicly acknowledged some 160,000 cases of inappropriate nonpayment amounting to about 6.8 billion yen.
The firms were found to have frequently overlooked claims for substitute vehicle arrangement costs brought about by car accidents.
Last month, the FSA ordered Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. to suspend operations because it had failed to pay claims.
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