The new chief of the General Insurance Association of Korea said he would make it his goal to improve the business environment for automobile insurance in the domestic insurance industry.

“An accumulated deficit and an excessive loss ratio has put undue pressure on insurance companies since the early 2000s,” said Chang Nam-sik, the former CEO of LIG Insurance, who took office as the association chairman early this month.

The new chief said it is necessary to readjust automobile insurance fees so as to reflect the principles of insurance, in a bid to improve the market reality.

Automobile insurance companies are caught in a vicious circle of a loss ratio and operating deficit, and the association will work hard to break out of this circle, he added. 

“The association will revise current systems such as car insurance fee discounts and amend the related laws over the long term in a bid to establish stricter judging standards for insurance crimes.”

The former LIG Insurance CEO was named the 52nd GAIK chairman last month, becoming the first person from the private sector to head the association in 12 years. He also came to fill a position which had been vacant for almost a year, since his predecessor Moon Jae-woo stepped down in August 2012.

Born in Busan in 1954, Chang majored in sociology at Seoul National University. He joined the precursor of LIG Insurance in 1980, and has been in the insurance industry for around 30 years.

In the early 1990s, he served as the U.S. branch chief at Lucky Life Insurance, which was renamed LIG Life Insurance in 2006. He headed the insurance company in 2002, helping pull the company out of a 14-year slump.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)