Meritz Fire Faces Controversy Over Reversing Stance on Severely Injured Victim's Compensation

Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance initially acknowledged responsibility to a victim who suffered severe injuries requiring over eight weeks of treatment. However, the company later stated that compensation would be difficult. The victim, who sustained severe injuries for eight weeks in a traffic accident, was informed by Meritz Fire that compensation is difficult.

The informant, Mr./Ms. Oh, stated that they are facing difficulties in the compensation process due to Meritz Fire's conflicting statements. The victim's side is considering dispute resolution with the Financial Supervisory Service following the insurer's change in stance after initially acknowledging the liability ratio at the time of the accident.

According to the insurance industry, it has been pointed out that delays or denials of compensation in severe injury cases requiring long-term treatment are directly linked to the victim's right to survival. An increase in consumer complaints against insurers is reflected in financial authorities' management performance evaluations and is known to potentially affect their business capabilities. While financial authorities regulate insurers' unfair infringement of rights through the Act on the Protection of Financial Consumers, there are limitations in preventing interpretation differences during compensation scope calculation or insurers' judgments of non-liability beforehand.