Nonlife insurers must do everything they can to regain the trust squandered by such industrywide missteps as failing to honor legitimate claims and overcharging on premiums, according to the new chairman of a nonlife insurers' industry group.
"The foremost important point is to regain trust," said Makoto Hyodo, who was appointed Monday chairman of the General Insurance Association of Japan.
The first scandal broke in 2005. By the time the facts came to light, it was found that the six major nonlife insurers had failed to pay a combined ¥29.4 billion in insurance claims in 381,000 cases for the five years through June 2006.