The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has overhauled its compensation guidance process to ensure timely notifications from the time of auto insurance subscription to the accident reporting and processing stages, following the introduction of the "8-week rule."

The FSS announced today (the 2nd) that it made these improvements to prevent minor injury patients from suffering damages due to failing to receive proper treatment because they were unaware of the review procedures for the necessity of long-term treatment.

First, when newly subscribing to or renewing auto insurance, the procedures for compensating medical expenses resulting from car accidents and the payment standards for future medical expenses will be provided.

Existing policyholders will also receive a batch notification regarding changes to compensation standards.

As soon as a car accident is reported to an insurance company, victims are to be informed of the medical expense compensation procedures and future treatment expense payment standards.

In addition, to ensure that car accident victims do not miss the review application, additional notices will be sent twice: during the 3rd to 4th weeks and the 6th to 7th weeks after the accident occurs.

The 8-week rule, included in the enforcement decree revision of the Automobile Damage Guarantee Act taking effect from the 10th, requires minor injury patients with bruises or sprains (injury grades 12 to 14) to undergo a review by a specialized medical professional if they wish to receive treatment exceeding 8 weeks.

Minor injury patients must submit supporting documents to the insurance company within 7 weeks from the date of the accident, and the Korea Automobile Damage Compensation Promotion Agency (KADCO) will notify them of the results within 7 days from the date the review request was made.

The review fees and the cost of issuing mandatory submission materials will be borne by the insurance companies.

However, the costs for voluntary materials additionally submitted at the patient's discretion must be paid directly by the patient.

If anyone objects to the review results, they can apply for deliberation and mediation to the Mutual Aid Dispute Mediation Subcommittee within 7 days from the date they were notified of the results.

Future medical expenses will be paid to severely injured patients (injury grades 1 to 11) for whom the necessity of future treatment is objectively recognized, while minor injury patients will be guaranteed coverage for actually incurred medical expenses.

Future medical expenses are a type of settlement money paid in advance by insurers, calculated to cover potential treatment costs that may arise after treatment ends.

The 8-week rule was introduced to prevent excessive insurance payout leaks, establish a long-term foundation for the sustainability of auto insurance, and alleviate the burden of auto insurance premiums for good-faith policyholders.

The auto insurance sector recorded losses of 9.7 billion won in 2024, 708 billion won in 2025, and 163.7 billion won from January to May of this year.