Complaints Over Spring-Tide Surcharges Continue as Campaign Begins, Though Pace Is Slowing
Inquiries over bay-coastal insurance surcharges continued to reach the municipal consumer center on the 5th, the first day of the spring-tide observation campaign, though the pace has slowed from the previously reported total of over 40. Insurer Sonae-ya continues fielding individual explanations while awaiting the Consumer Affairs Agency study group's first meeting on September 17.
According to the municipal consumer center, a handful of inquiries over bay-coastal insurance surcharges arrived even on the 5th, the first day of the spring-tide observation campaign, though the pace has slowed from the more than 40 complaints received within two days of the surcharge announcement, as previously reported. "The numbers are settling down, though not to zero," an official said. Sonae-ya Insurance continues repeating its earlier explanation — "rates track the forecast, not the calendar" — in response to individual inquiries, with a spokesperson saying, "While we wait for the September 17 study group, we'll keep answering each question carefully as it comes." As previously reported, the study group plans to focus on advance disclosure, clear citation of the underlying forecast, and whether a surcharge cap is warranted — a debate likely to continue past the campaign's end on the 7th.
