Scathing criticism of short-term insurers

Business Day reports that the short-term insurance sector has been sharply criticised for practices that allegedly smack of poor market conduct and dubious practices according to the deputy director-general of the Treasury, Ismail Momoniat.

He says that the poor service is reflected in the fact that 8 969 complaints were registered with the short-term insurance ombudsman last year, 10% more than in the previous year.

He called for reforms in the short-term insurance sector by suggesting, among other things, that its regulators must adopt a much tougher stance against companies providing insurance services.

Momoniat accused the short-term insurance sector of being lazy, particularly when it comes to automatically adjusting premiums to cover lower market values of depreciating assets such as motor vehicles.

However, insurance companies have disagreed with Momoniat's accusations with Auto & General's chief executive saying that Momoniat's views were "off the mark" and OUTsurance's Willem Roos saying that saying that its commitment to providing awesome service to clients was "the most important thing that that company does".

The South African Insurance Association is meeting to discuss the allegations made by the Treasury.

Read the full article on www.businessday.co.za.