The Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) organized a workshop on March 15, 2019, at the Ghana Reinsurance Training Room in Accra. The purpose of the workshop was to educate GIA members about the activities of the Claims Management and Advice Bureau (CMAB) and emphasize the crucial role played by Claims Managers in the Ghanaian Insurance Industry.

The workshop saw active participation from over seventy (70) attendees representing the fifty-seven (57) member companies of the GIA.

During the session, Mr. Nda Ahale Polley, the Complaints/Claims Manager of CMAB, informed the participants that since the official launch of the Bureau on June 1, 2018, they had received a total of ninety (90) complaints, out of which eighty-six (86) had been successfully resolved through amicable means.

Mr. Polley also shared some notable observations made by CMAB during this period. These included:

• The most common type of complaint was related to the termination or cancellation of life insurance policies.
• There exists a prevailing negative perception of insurance within the public domain.
• Insurance agents often fail to adequately educate prospective clients about the policies they sell, primarily due to inadequate knowledge.
• Member companies are often reluctant to report competitors engaging in malpractices to the Bureau.

Mr. Polley urged insurers to provide proper training to agents before sending them to rural communities. He also emphasized the importance of agents refraining from using existing clients’ bank details to sign them up for new policies without their consent, as it is a criminal offense.

Mr. Gustav Siale, a former Managing Director of Ghana Reinsurance Company Limited and a Consultant to CMAB, also addressed the participants. He encouraged insurers to direct complainants to CMAB after exhausting internal complaint management channels, highlighting the benefits of unbiased judgment and professional advisory services provided by CMAB. He also emphasized that involving CMAB helps insurance companies avoid unfair judgments and punitive actions from the regulatory commission.

The GIA Complaint Management and Advice Bureau (CMAB) was established by the GIA Secretariat to address complaints from policyholders and the general public in line with GIA’s three-tier Complaints Management and Self-Regulatory regimes. The primary objectives of CMAB are to promote self-regulation, improve insurance services, build consumer confidence, and increase insurance penetration.

The Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), on Friday March 15, 2019 held a workshop at the Ghana Reinsurance Training Room in Accra, to sensitize its members on the activities of the Claims Management and Advise Bureau (CMAB).

The purpose of the workshop was to create the needed awareness among Claims Managers in the Ghanaian Insurance Industry, as they play a critical role to the success of the bureau.

The workshop was attended by over seventy (70) participants drawn from the fifty-seven (57) member companies of the Association.

Addressing participants, Mr. Nda Ahale Polley, Complaints/Claims Manager of CMAB, said the Unit has received over ninety (90) complaints out of which eighty-six (86) have been amicably resolved, since the official launch of the Bureau on June 1, 2018.

He further outlined some general observations he has made over the period as follows:

• Termination or cancellation of life insurance policies turned out to be the most common type of complaint,
• A  strong negative perception of Insurance in the public domain,
• Failure  of Insurance Agents to  take their time to educate prospective clients on the policies they sell due to inadequate knowledge of the policies,
• Reluctance of Member Companies to report competitors on malpractices to the Bureau.

Mr. Polley called on Insurers to provide agents with requisite training before dispatching them to rural communities. He further appealed to Agents who use bank details of existing clients to sign them on new policies without their consent to desist from such practices, as it is a criminal offense under the laws of the Republic.

In a brief remark, Mr. Gustav Siale, a former Managing Director of Ghana Reinsurance Company Limited and a Consultant to CMAB called on Insurers to encourage Complainants to send their complaints to CMAB after exhausting their internal Complaint Management channels without success. “Complainants and Claimants approach Insurance Companies antagonistically and therefore it is in your own interest to refer unresolved complaints to CMAB for resolution. At CMAB, Complainants are assured of unbiased judgement, professional advisory services and Insurance companies are saved from unfair judgement and punitive actions from the Commission” – he added.

The GIA Complaint Management and Advice Bureau (CMAB) is a department set-up by the GIA Secretariat to handle complaints from Policyholders and the general public in line with GIA’s three-tier Complaints Management and Self-Regulatory regimes. Its objectives are to promote Self Regulations, improve insurance services, build consumer confidence as well as increase insurance penetration