A businessman in Shaanxi province recently reported that his company, Shaanxi Guotai Diboer Trading Co., Ltd., suffered a fire last year with confirmed losses of 13 million yuan. However, when he filed a claim with Sunshine Property Insurance Company for his 22.25 million yuan coverage policy, he was told he would only receive 1 million yuan in compensation. He suspects he fell victim to the insurance company's deceptive practices.

On February 4, 2024, Shaanxi Guotai Diboer Trading Co., Ltd. purchased property insurance from Sunshine Property Insurance Co., Ltd. Xianyang Central Branch, with coverage limits of 22.25 million yuan and premiums exceeding 30,000 yuan. In the early morning of December 16, 2024, the company's wine storage warehouse caught fire and was destroyed while the policy was still in effect.

After the insurance company conducted a six-month loss assessment, the fire damage was determined to be 13 million yuan. However, the claims notification letter issued by the insurance company stated that the policy would only pay out 1 million yuan.

Mr. Zhang stated that only after the fire did he examine his policy closely and discovered several lines of unmarked "small black text" on the back of the policy, which "specially stipulated" that fires fall under the category of other accidents with a maximum payout of 1 million yuan.

Mr. Zhang claimed he was completely unaware of this provision, noting that insuring over 10 million yuan worth of goods for only 1 million yuan was clearly "illogical." Recalling how he was asked to sign contracts twice during the insurance purchase process, he suspects the insurance company used deceptive tactics to secretly add "additional clauses."

Mr. Zhang explained that after initially signing the policy, they stamped it and made payment. Less than an hour later, the agent requested they resend the policy for a second stamp citing an "unclear seal." The second version contained the aforementioned "small black text" on the back, which they unknowingly stamped.

Mr. Zhang questioned why, if the policy terms had changed, the insurance company should have informed him and obtained his confirmed approval through stamping.

The insurance company agent claimed to have provided detailed reminders to Mr. Zhang's company at the time, but no records could be found in their WeChat conversations. The agent then claimed to have provided reminders via phone call, but call records showed the conversation lasted only 15 seconds.

Comparing what should have been "three identical copies" of the policy revealed differences in page count, wording, and stamp placement. Shaanxi Guotai Diboer Trading Co., Ltd. has reported this matter to the Xianyang Branch of the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

According to the official website, Sunshine Insurance Group Co., Ltd. is a private insurance service group. Sunshine Property Insurance was established in July 2005, and the group was formed in June 2007. It currently operates multiple professional subsidiaries including property insurance, life insurance, credit, asset management, medical, pension, and technology services. On December 9, 2022, Sunshine Insurance was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Notably, Sunshine Property Insurance has been penalized multiple times this year for violations, with the Xianyang Central Branch where Mr. Zhang purchased his policy receiving penalties as recently as July.

Information from the National Financial Regulatory Administration website shows that on July 15, the Xianyang Branch of the National Financial Regulatory Administration announced penalties against Sunshine Property Insurance Xianyang Central Branch for false financial data and fraudulent intermediary business practices. The company was fined 286,000 yuan, then-general manager Ma Litao was warned and fined 45,000 yuan, and then-business management department head Du Suzhi was warned and fined 10,000 yuan.

Public information shows that in the first half of 2025, Sunshine Property Insurance under Sunshine Insurance Group has received a total of 20 penalty notices involving issues such as "false financial and business data, fabricated insurance intermediary business, false salary listings, deceiving policyholders, and preparing false materials," with total fines exceeding 5.6 million yuan.