LAHORE: The office of Federal Insurance Ombudsman (FIO) has witnessed an increase of 25 percent in registration of complaints against insurance companies during 2021 out of which almost 50 percent were disposed of throughout the country, said FIO Dr Muhammad Khawar Jameel.
In an exclusive interview with the Business Recorder, he said a monetary relief of Rs 2 billion to the complainants was also ensured during the outgoing calendar year.
He said the insurance industry in Pakistan is comparatively small in comparison to the volume of insurance business in our region. However, he added, the situation has shown an improvement during the last five years and the industry has witnessed and annual growth of 30-35 % during this period.
When asked about the challenge of working under the threat of COVID-19, he said, the secretariat as well as the regional offices at Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Quetta and Hyderabad remained functional to give optimum output during the pandemic. “This can be seen in the backdrop of the relief given to the policy holders during calendar year 2019 at Rs400 million was increased to over an amount of Rs. 2 billion during the calendar year 2021,” he said. “Strict SOPs for maintaining a safe environment for the officials as well as the visiting complainants are being maintained.”
On the issues related to Bancassurance, he said it is the combination of bank and insurance. The essence of banking is to maintain secrecy, but to sell out the bancassurance product bank officials and representatives of insurance companies are both hand in gloves in misrepresentation and selling of policies. “We have taken various steps to curb and mitigate these practices from the bank desk and referred the suggestions to SBP and SECP for taking strict actions.”
Dr Jameel urged the policyholder to read the terms and conditions very carefully before signing policy documents. In most of the cases, he said, the policy holders do not have the sufficient educational background to fully understand various conditions and terms of insurance policy. In this case, it is advisable that the policy holders may not be tempted to sign the policy documents in a hurry before discussing it threadbare with someone who can understand the laid down terms and conditions in a better way, he added. He has advised bank officials and bancassurance companies’ officials to ensure transparency and the element of fair play. Generally, he said, it takes sixty (60) days to dispose off a complaint against an insurance company. However, delay is caused when the complainant or the respondent company seek adjournment for one reason or the other.
Dr Jameel has held various key posts in federal and provincial governments for over a period spanning 35 years. He has a vast and varied experience of working in top administrative and management positions in the capital.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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