2025 Insurance Penalty Tickets Review: 4,694 Tickets, Sales Violations Account for Over 40% | Jiemian Finance 315

Interface News Reporter | Feng Lijun

The insurance industry bears important responsibilities such as risk protection and financial intermediation. However, issues like illegal insurance sales are common, leading to frequent consumer rights protections and complaints. In recent years, regulators have enforced stricter oversight in the insurance sector, implementing the “report and conduct in one” policy to guide the industry back to rational operation.

Based on penalty data from the Enterprise Warning System, Interface News reporters found that in 2025, insurance companies received a total of 4,694 fines from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, its dispatched agencies, the People’s Bank of China, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, representing a 4.80% year-over-year increase.

Among these, 1,965 fines were due to violations in sales practices, accounting for over 40%, making it the primary reason for penalties. Violations related to underwriting and claims totaled 237 fines.

Violations in sales practices and underwriting/claims directly infringe on consumer rights. Which insurance companies received the most penalties for these reasons in 2025? What issues should consumers pay attention to when purchasing insurance or consulting policies?

2025 Insurance Company Penalty Overview

Overall, according to the Enterprise Warning System data, in 2025, insurance companies received a total of 4,694 regulatory fines, including 2,454 for property insurance companies, 2,108 for life insurance companies, and 130 for insurance asset management institutions.

Breaking it down further, in 2025, fines related to sales violations numbered 1,964, accounting for 41.86%. In 2024, this figure was 40.25%. The proportion increased by 1.61 percentage points in 2025, with 162 more fines.

Specifically, sales violations mainly involve infringing on consumer rights, including false intermediary charges; promising or providing benefits beyond the contractual agreement; not using approved or filed insurance clauses and rates; engaging in insurance business for improper gains; deceiving policyholders, insured persons, or beneficiaries; entrusting unqualified agencies or personnel to conduct sales activities; false or misleading advertising; inciting or inducing agents to breach integrity obligations; failing to fulfill full disclosure obligations; exaggerating insurance responsibilities or benefits, concealing surrender losses, or confusing product types; and entrusting unlicensed personnel to conduct business and paying commissions.

Source: Enterprise Warning System

Source: Enterprise Warning System

According to data compiled by Interface News from individuals, companies, and branches penalized for sales violations, property insurance companies with the highest fines in 2025 include PICC Property & Casualty and China Pacific Property Insurance, each exceeding 20 million yuan. China Ping An Property Insurance, China Dadi Property Insurance, and Taikang Online Property Insurance also exceeded 10 million yuan.

In terms of penalty counts, PICC Property & Casualty received the most fines for sales violations in 2025, totaling 157.

Source: Enterprise Warning System, compiled and charted by Interface News

For life insurance, in 2025, China Pacific Life Insurance received the highest total fines for sales violations, amounting to 9.86 million yuan, followed by China Life Insurance with nearly 8 million yuan.

Regarding the number of fines, China Life Insurance had the most for sales violations, with 144 fines, followed by Ping An Life Insurance with 96.

Source: Enterprise Warning System, compiled and charted by Interface News

Violations related to underwriting and claims also involve consumer rights, mainly including false underwriting and claims, failure to handle reinsurance properly, delays or unjustified denials, fabricating false accidents or exaggerating losses to fraudulently obtain insurance payouts, misappropriating, intercepting, or embezzling premiums.

In 2025, insurance companies received 237 fines for underwriting and claims violations, a slight decrease from 249 in 2024.

Specifically, the property insurer with the highest fines for underwriting and claims violations was PICC Property & Casualty, with total penalties of 9.07 million yuan and 71 related fines. China Pacific Property Insurance followed, with fines totaling 4.614 million yuan and 24 fines.

Source: Enterprise Warning System, compiled and charted by Interface News

For life insurers, in 2025, the company with the highest fines for underwriting and claims violations was Peking University Founder Life Insurance, with penalties of 2.36 million yuan; the most fines were issued to New China Life Insurance, with 6 fines.

Source: Enterprise Warning System, compiled and charted by Interface News

How can consumers avoid falling into “traps”?

In fact, in the personal insurance sector, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission fully promoted the “report and conduct in one” policy in 2023; in property insurance, the non-automobile “report and conduct in one” policy was fully implemented on November 1, 2025, while in auto insurance, it has been in effect since 2018.

“Report and conduct in one” means insurance companies must strictly adhere to filed insurance clauses and rates, ensuring that the filed content matches actual business practices. The policy aims to eliminate kickbacks and gifts, restore premium prices to true levels, and address long-standing issues like malicious channel fee competition, easing industry debt pressures.

Industry insiders say that deep implementation of “report and conduct in one” not only standardizes market order but also promotes insurance companies to develop core competitiveness through products and services. Especially in bancassurance channels, insurers can no longer rely on high commission rebates to attract customers; competition will shift to product quality and service. This change forces insurers to develop differentiated products and explore diversified sales channels.

However, data shows that after the policy’s implementation, penalties in 2025 increased rather than decreased. Researcher Fu Yifu from Sushang Bank attributes this to multiple factors.

“On one hand, regulatory efforts have intensified, with more penetrating supervision—not limited to surface checks but cross-verifying fee structures, fund flows, and business ledgers. Past borderline violations are now being heavily investigated, increasing exposure,” Fu said. “On the other hand, industry competition has intensified, with bancassurance channels becoming a battleground. Some institutions still hold onto luck, bypassing fee restrictions through covert means like ‘small accounts,’ leading to disguised violations.”

“Additionally, some organizations lack a proper compliance culture; policies and enforcement are disconnected, making it difficult to effectively control frontline violations. Meanwhile, regulators have become more meticulous in identifying violations, further increasing penalties. Essentially, this is a concentrated rectification of industry chaos during policy implementation,” Fu added.

So, how can consumers avoid falling into sales traps when purchasing insurance or consulting policies?

Fu advises consumers to focus on three points: First, clarify personal needs, avoid being misled by high returns, and recognize that insurance’s core function is risk protection; do not blindly trust absolute promises. Second, carefully read policy terms, paying close attention to coverage, exclusions, and surrender rules; if unclear, consult official channels and refuse to sign or fill out forms on others’ behalf. Third, choose reputable licensed institutions and personnel, avoid transferring money to individuals, and be alert to illegal rebate activities.

“Regarding rights protection, consumers should proactively keep records of sales calls, chats, and other evidence. If misled or delayed in claims, first negotiate with the insurer; if unresolved, call the 12378 regulatory complaint hotline. Also, beware of black-market ‘agent surrender’ schemes, refuse fake rights protection, safeguard personal information, and use official channels to protect your rights to information and fair transactions,” Fu emphasized.