Japan's four leading property and casualty insurers admitted on Thursday to having shared contract information of their auto insurance customers with their competitors, following a recent series of scandals exposing industry-wide compliance issues.
The four firms involved are Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co. and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co.
The information that was shared included customer names, insurance policy numbers, types of insurance, maturity dates and premium amounts.
The data leak revolved around insurance agencies that handle products from multiple firms. When the agencies sent emails containing contract information for a particular firm within their outlets, employees of its competitors ended up being included as recipients.
However, the insurers did not see the leak as problematic and failed to stop the practice, they said.
Thursday's announcements came after the four firms vowed to improve compliance following the scandals.
Last December, Japan's financial watchdog ordered these firms to improve their business operations after finding they colluded over insurance premiums for corporate customers and government agencies.
Then, in January, Sompo Japan was slapped with another order by the Financial Services Agency for maintaining a business relationship with used car chain Bigmotor Co. despite the revelations of the dealership's involvement in insurance fraud.
