Beijing Financial Court making headway in insurance disputes

The Beijing Financial Court has taken various measures to deal with insurance-related disputes since its establishment so as to promote sustainable development of industry and protect the legitimate rights of consumers, officials said at a Wednesday news conference.

Since it was set up March 18 last year, the court has accepted 677 lawsuits regarding insurance, accounting for 7.75 percent of its total cases, said Li Yanhong, vice-president of the court.

The amount of money at stake in the insurance disputes has been over 1.1 billion yuan ($151 million), with 41 insurance companies involved.

To efficiently solve the lawsuits and ensure the professionalism of case handling, the court has established a think tank of financial experts to help it face new challenges in the financial industry, and arranged hearings at noon or in the evening after finding many litigants had no time to attend trials during work hours.

"We've opened a quick channel of case filing to serve litigants with difficulties, such as those who are old and disabled, and held seminars with the insurance industry to improve the quality of our legal services," she said.

In addition, a working room specializing in mediating insurance disputes has also been set up in the court, she said.

Given the insurance problems discovered in litigation, the court sent judicial suggestions to the industrial association and enterprises while making rules to help regulate and promote the industrial healthy development.