ORIX Life Insurance Corp. will introduce Sept. 1 what it calls "unprecedented cheap" life insurance products available only through mail order, the firm announced August 28.
The company can lower the premiums by 4.6 percent to 28.1 percent compared with those on its other similar products by cutting distribution costs involving agents and branches. The products, designed for individuals, are part of the firm's competitive strategy with Big Bang financial reforms looming large, it said.
The products feature small-lot sizes, simple procedures and no requirements for medical checkups prior to contracts. Such characteristics are common in the controversial postal life insurance policies sold by post offices. The government's blue-ribbon panel on administrative reform recently agreed to seek privatization of the postal system.
Included in the products are time, whole and endowment life insurance with no dividends. The maximum insurance is 10 million yen. ORIX said it will continue dealing with its 1,900 agents who mainly handle corporate contracts requiring lengthy consultations, it said.