Page 53 - Insurance Times February 2016

as it regulates and this can best be done Mediclaim Ratings that we do, health are handled has significant conflict of
if the government takes a backseat and insurance products without co-pay are interest. If you are unhappy with an
makes the regulator fully autonomous. preferred. It’s now time to change that insurer’s decision, you need to appeal
outlook and encourage more risk to the insurer itself. It is rare for an in-
A third conflict is between claimants and sharing. surer to overturn a decision they have
insurers and has to do with the manner already taken. A complainant could
in which claims are structured. The Another conflict is the manner in which reach out to Irdai but the regulator will
claimant and insurer relationship is the industry self-regulates. There are guide her back to the insurer for adjudi-
adversarial. The insured has little incen- two industry bodies, the Life Insurance cation.
tive to keep claim costs low. Insurers Council and the General Insurance Coun-
always suspect claimants of inflating cil. These are meant to be a platform Approaching genuinely independent
damages. for insurers to collaborate. However, by bodies such as the ombudsmen or courts
statute, the insurance regulator is also is so difficult and time consuming that
In motor insurance I’ve seen a few cases an active part of these councils. most people will not make the effort.
where a vehicle had a small dent but The solution is in insurers setting up their
the garage wrecked the car so that the So, the practical outcome of these coun- own independent adjudicators, or Irdai
entire cost could be picked by insurance. cils is communication between the in- looking into the merits of the
What should have cost Rs.4,000 to re- dustry and regulator and there is no for- complaints, or the independent Finan-
pair cost the insurer Rs.40,000. The so- mal structure for the industry to self- cial Redress Committee getting set up
lution is to market products with high regulate. The industry should create fast.
co-pay or deductibles. This means that such structures as these have many ad-
a claimant has to bear a part of the vantages—consumer issues can be Conflicts of interest will always exist.
claim’s cost and has less incentive to in- speedily resolved, market practices What’s important, though, is to list
flate costs. more openly discussed and regulatory these out so everybody understands
intervention limited to matters of policy. them and takes conscious decisions to
There is a resistance to co-pay and ensure insurance buyers’ interests are
deductibles in the market. In the Mint Finally, the way customer complaints foremost. (Source : Mint)

5,000 insurance agents to be recruited by Reliance Life

Reliance Life is planning to hire 5,000 insurance advisors and nearly 2,000 front-end sales staff in the comming months
as part of its distribution network expansion plans. The company has already recruited approx 15,000 insurance advi-
sors lately and further the recruitment process to take the total recruitment of agents to 20,000 people in the current
fiscal ending March 31, 2016. "We have added close to 15,000 insurance advisors in the past few months and are
targeting to recruit 5,000 more by the end of the current financial year to increase our reach. This will strengthen our
distribution network and help in new customer acquisition," Reliance Life Insurance's Chief Agency officer Manoranjan
Sahoo said. "We are attempting to create a stronger footprint across India with a view to enhancing the width and
depth of our reach across the country," he added. RLIC will help the new advisors to become certified insurance advi-
sors in the current financial year, thus adding to the pool of certified agents who will serve as a growth driver for the
life insurance industry in the coming years.

Aegon Religare Life renamed as Aegon Life Insurance

Private player Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company is renamed as Aegon Life Insurance Company Ltd with effect
from 5th December 2015 following the exit of Religare from the joint venture. Managing Director and CEO of the
company K. S. Gopalakrishnan said that the insurance market was not homogenous, but heterogeneous, and was
maturing. "The management team of the company will remain unchanged and will stay committed to all its custom-
ers, partners and employees with added focus on customer experience through simplification and digitization,"
Gopalakrishnan said in a statement.

The Insurance Times, February 2016 53

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