Chinese watchdog slams ‘fake’ insurance programs

Trying to stay up late to watch a sports event? Worried about how long a celebrity heartthrob’s fling will last?  

In China there are insurance policies that cover such concerns of the internet- and celebrity-crazed youth, and a watchdog group isn’t impressed.

“These ‘love insurances’ involving celebrities are not insurance products as they do not meet the requirements listed in China’s Insurance Law,” the China Insurance Regulatory Commission wrote on its website Monday, as reported by the South China Morning Post.

Another policy that’s getting a thumbs down is one that caters to sports fans. 

In 2014, the popular “night owl insurance,” valid for 30 days during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, offered coverage for medical and emergency expenses for soccer fans who might push themselves to the limit during late-night matches for 3 yuan, or 46 U.S. cents, the newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily said in a commentary last month that “love insurance” and similar products were something akin to gambling rather than insurance policies, the Post reported.