Mr. A went to a venue in October last year after winning a free “Make a Mango Cake” experience. It turned out the event was sponsored by an insurer, and a separate time slot for selling insurance was set during the program. There, an agent explained that “whole life insurance is more advantageous than savings deposits for building a lump sum.” Mr. A signed a contract that day.

Mr. A later filed a complaint with the Financial Supervisory Service, saying he ended up enrolling in the policy based on incorrect explanations. Citing a recording Mr. A had kept of the enrollment process, the Financial Supervisory Service decided to cancel the contract for mis-selling and refund the premiums.

On the 16th, the Financial Supervisory Service issued guidance, noting that “complaints about the mis-selling of whole life insurance continue to be filed at events such as cake and Duzzonku (Dubai Chewy Cookies) making workshops or wedding fair promotions.”

Victims generally enrolled in insurance in unexpected settings without being given sufficient information. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Mr. B also recently signed up for a whole life policy after trusting an agent at a wedding fair insurance-sales booth who said it was “suitable for asset building,” then filed a complaint with the Financial Supervisory Service. After confirming from a recording made at the time of enrollment that the agent had described it as “a fixed-interest product with a rate higher than bank interest,” the Financial Supervisory Service canceled the contract.

There was even a case in November last year in which an agent, claiming it was linked to in-house training, sold a whole life policy to a person with an intellectual disability at a welfare facility for people with disabilities, and the Financial Supervisory Service determined it was mis-selling and canceled the contract.

The Financial Supervisory Service advised that “whole life insurance is a product intended to provide a payout to a subscriber’s surviving family upon the subscriber’s death to help stabilize their finances, and is not suitable for the subscriber’s own savings or retirement planning,” and added, “due to the nature of whole life insurance, total premiums can run into tens of millions of won, so you should fully understand the product and enroll with care.”

The Financial Supervisory Service further emphasized that “if mis-selling is suspected, you should retain the explanatory materials you were given, recordings, text messages, and SNS messages to be prepared to substantiate it.”