Insurance premiums slip for the first time

Growth was 14% and 17% in the first half of the last two years, according to the General Statistics Office, which started recording insurance premiums data since 2016.

Industry insiders say that the decline mostly came from life insurance, which dropped double-digit year-on-year in April and May after recent issues with the mis-selling of bancassurance products.

The rapid growth of the bancassurance market in recent years has resulted in bumper profits for both banks and insurers, but many customers have since last year complained about being "tricked" into buying insurance when they only wanted to deposit money into banks.

Investigators of the Ministry of Finance investigators have recently found Prudential, MB Ageas Life, Sun Life, and BIDV Metlife guilty of misleading customers, who do not understand what they are buying.

The ministry will investigate 10 other insurance companies this year.