The nation’s 38 life insurance companies failed to pay about 96.4 billion yen in benefits in about 1.31 million cases during the five years through March 2006, the Financial Services Agency said Friday.

The FSA said it will examine the reports submitted by the companies and impose necessary administrative penalties.

The amount of nonpayments increased 2.6 times from about 35.9 billion yen in an interim report compiled in April, while the number of cases rose 2.9 times from about 440,000 cases in April.

Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. failed to pay 18.9 billion yen during the five years, the largest amount among the 38 companies. Industry leader Nippon Life Insurance Co. failed to pay 13.4 billion yen.

In February, the FSA ordered life insurance companies to complete surveys on nonpayments by April 13. However, the companies were not able to finish checking the records until November.(The Asahi Shimbun)