Digital Insurance and Consumer Rights in Vietnam: Compliance Challenges and Regulatory Reform Needs

Abstract

Digital insurance has become an inevitable trend in Vietnam’s digital transformation, significantly expanding consumer access to insurance services. However, the rapid development of insurance technology (InsurTech) also increases the risk of legal imbalances between insurance undertakings and policyholders, particularly in jurisdictions where the legal framework for consumer protection remains nascent or incomplete, including Vietnam.

Although Vietnam’s legal system has made notable progress in regulating insurance activities in the digital environment, significant lacunae remain, particularly in ensuring transparency, fairness, and information security for policyholders-who are the weaker party in this relationship. Moving beyond the traditional analysis of insurers’ legal responsibilities in paying benefits or resolving disputes, this study examines the legal issues that arise to safeguard consumer rights throughout the entire process of participating in digital insurance. Specifically, it focuses on three core groups of legal issues: (i) transparency and access to information in the digital environment; (ii) the validity and evidentiary value of electronic insurance contracts; and (iii) the protection of personal data during the collection and processing of user information. The article also reviews and compares the experiences and legal models of jurisdictions with more developed insurance law systems to highlight the requirements for standardizing financial consumer protection in the digital era. Accordingly, the study argues that a sustainable and inclusive digital insurance market in Vietnam requires the improvement of the insurance legal framework with a consumer-centric approach.