Court notes rise in insurance cases

The Jing'an District People's Court has seen a rise in cases related to insurance over the past three years, according to a white paper issued by the court on Tuesday.

Between 2016 and 2018, the court accepted 1,065 insurance-related cases — 310 in 2016, 364 in 2017 and 391 in 2018.

More than 860 involved property insurance, an increase of over 35 percent from 2016 to 2018. More than 85 percent were about damage to vehicles.

The highest amount of money in a case soared from 2016's 32 million yuan (US$4.5 million) to 2018's 95 million yuan.

Sometimes the gap between loss assessments by insurance companies and third-party agencies was huge.

In one case, the amount given by third-party assessors was 143,500 yuan, about 14 times the insurance company assessment of just 9,151 yuan. After mediation, the insurance company agreed to pay 85,000 yuan.

A third of vehicle damage insurance disputes had been reappraised.

The court called for the appraisal industry to be regulated and a joint platform established for trade associations, insurance companies, appraisal providers, the insured and repair companies to share information.

It also suggested a crackdown on scalpers and monopolizers in the appraisal industry.