The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) unveils four strategies for 2026: "Resilient-Accepting-Comprehensive-Innovative," aiming to upgrade infrastructure.

Insurance column: Financial and Banking Journal, March 2569 issue (Issue No. 527)

The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will launch its 5th comprehensive insurance plan in 2569, upgrading the system to a national security infrastructure under the "Resilient-Accepting-Universal-Innovative" framework. It plans to eliminate cash payments through agents by 2570 to reduce the risk of fraud and impersonation.

Mr. Chuchat Pramunphon, Secretary-General of the Insurance Business Oversight and Promotion Commission (OIC). It was revealed that 2026 will be the year of transforming plans into tangible results. The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will operate under four main strategies, the core of which is to make the Thai insurance system resilient, adaptable, comprehensive, and advanced. "People" will be the key mechanism for driving the organization, data will be the basis for analysis and policy formulation, technology will be the tool for enhancing efficiency, and integration and cooperation from all sectors will be ensured through continuous monitoring and analysis within the context of the insurance business.

Strategy 1 Resilience – Stability: Building an insurance system that is flexible, robust, and future-ready.

Stabilizing the insurance system must start at the source, particularly by upgrading the regulation of insurance intermediaries, who are the frontline personnel closest to the public. This involves five key issues:

Issue 1 Elevating the Regulation of Insurance Intermediaries to a Preventive Approach: The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will shift its regulatory role from reactive action to prevention. This will involve utilizing data and a risk scoring system to systematically monitor and assess the risks of insurance intermediaries. Furthermore, the OIC will develop convenient channels for the public to verify licenses and move towards e-Payment for premium payments.

By eliminating cash payments through agents by 2570, the risk of fraud and impersonation will be reduced. This elevates the regulatory approach from control to systemic risk management, ensuring the public is confident that they are being offered sales by properly authorized individuals and are receiving fair protection.

Issue 2 Protecting the rights and interests of the public begins at the start of the insurance process. The approach shifts from handling complaints to preventing them from occurring in the first place. This involves establishing clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to ensure insurance companies are accountable for service quality in a tangible way. Simultaneously, it's crucial to improve the standard of information dissemination to the public, ensuring they understand coverage terms and conditions correctly, and using data to analyze complaint trends for proactive systemic solutions.

The goal is to reduce the number of complaints by at least 15 percent and improve the quality of the entire system to ensure that citizens receive fair treatment from the outset and build lasting confidence in the insurance system.

Issue 3 To elevate the operational standards of regional insurance company branches, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will upgrade its supervision of insurance company branches from general inspection criteria to a more rigorous market conduct oversight. This will utilize a risk-focused supervision approach and complaint data as the basis for evaluation.

This is to emphasize the true quality of service to the public, including fair selling, fast and transparent claims processing, after-sales customer care, and protection of personal data. The main goal is to ensure that people in all areas nationwide receive the same standard of service and to build confidence in the Thai insurance system.

Issue 4 Enhancing the stability of the insurance business through group supervision, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will fully implement Group-Wide Supervision. This involves enforcing regulations and requiring insurance groups to systematically report group-level information. This will provide a clear view of the "true risks" of the entire group and prevent systemic risks that could arise in a domino effect. Ultimately, this will strengthen the stability and security of insurance companies, align with international standards, and build public confidence in the financial stability and ability of insurance companies to continuously pay claims.

Issue 5 The initiative aims to promote an Insurance Community and elevate Thailand to an ASEAN Insurance Hub by creating a system that connects people, knowledge, innovation, and collaboration between the business, academic, and technological sectors. This includes expanding cooperation with educational institutions, developing Innovation Centers, and promoting InsurTech alongside the development of professional curricula. A comprehensive Insurance Learning Platform will be established to build a knowledge infrastructure for the industry, enhancing human resource capabilities, fostering innovation, and laying the foundation for Thailand's long-term status as a regional insurance hub.

Strategy 2 Receive – Resilience, an insurance system that supports large-scale risks and new challenges.

The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) prioritizes strengthening the insurance system to cope with increasing frequency and severity of disasters. This is achieved by upgrading the supervision of reinsurance, a crucial "financial buffer" for the system, coupled with the collection and analysis of in-depth risk data linked to the ERM/ORSA framework to assess the system's ability to absorb losses.

This includes developing a national-level mechanism for managing large-scale risks and studying the feasibility of establishing a national disaster and large-scale risk insurance fund to mitigate future damages, reduce the burden on the government budget, and ensure that citizens receive timely and reliable relief.

Strategy 3 Inclusion promotes universal access to insurance as follows:

Issue 1 Insurance companies are issuing electronic policies (e-Policies), expanding their use from mandatory motor vehicle insurance to personal insurance policies (Personal Lines). This integrates data into a central Custodian system, allowing the public convenient access, verification, and use of policy information, promoting transparency, reducing the risk of lost documents, and fully elevating Thailand's insurance system to a digital level.

Issue 2 To elevate targeted areas and create a road safety culture, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) will prioritize mandatory motor vehicle insurance (Compulsory Third-Party Liability Insurance Act) as a national priority, with the goal of ensuring "every vehicle is legally covered." This will involve expanding a pilot model to a nationwide level, coupled with developing an ecosystem that links vehicle registration data and related agencies. Furthermore, it will streamline processes for tax renewal and notification systems, making Compulsory Third-Party Liability Insurance a reliable "basic guarantee" for citizens and helping to reduce long-term national losses.

Issue 3 To enhance insurance knowledge among media professionals and public communicators, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) prioritizes developing a network of quality communicators to ensure the public receives accurate and reliable insurance information. Building upon the Responsible Voices project for influencers, which has already completed two cohorts with 87 participants and reached over 34 million people, the OIC is preparing a reunion event and launching a third training program in 2026, alongside courses and workshops for media professionals and public communicators.

This is aimed at enhancing understanding of insurance, law, and regulatory roles. In addition, the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) has launched "PITAK," its mascot, to represent the organization in communicating insurance information, news, and benefits in a way that is easily understood and accessible to the public, enabling them to confidently use insurance as a tool for building financial security.

Strategy 4 Cutting-edge Technology & Data-Driven

Building a new insurance data ecosystem encompassing AI development, digital technology, and Open Insurance for modern regulation. This involves leveraging AI and digital technologies as key tools to enhance regulatory oversight, developing the OIC AI Submission Acceleration Platform (OIC ASAP) to improve the efficiency of data delivery and analysis from the insurance sector, and upgrading data infrastructure through the OIC Gateway and e-Custodian systems.

This is to ensure transparency, verifiability, and systematic linkage of policy information, coupled with the promotion of Open Insurance to facilitate secure data exchange under the protection of personal data. This will help increase the speed and fairness of insurance underwriting and claims payments, reduce fraud, and develop products that truly align with the risks faced by the public.

“All strategies, whether it's enhancing governance, developing disaster response mechanisms, expanding access to insurance, or leveraging technology, share the same goal: to ensure that the public receives tangible benefits in terms of financial security, fairness, and access to reliable and standardized insurance systems. Because insurance is not just a policy; it's a guarantee of security for life, the economy, and the nation.”

You can read other columns in the March 2569 issue (No. 527) of the Finance and Banking Journal, available in digital format. https://goo.gl/U6OnIi

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