Last year a staggering 9 368 complaints were received, according to the Ombudsman for Short Term Insurance’s (OSTI) latest annual report. Ombudsman for short-term insurance Dennis Jooste says that this rise is largely attributed to the growing awareness among the consumers of their contractual rights.
For Momentum Short-term Insurance (MSTI), treating customers fairly is a part of their DNA. And the recently published Ombudsman results prove so – MSTI achieved an overturned ratio of 10.26% in 2013 versus the 27.91% published in 2012. And this is an achievement, considering that the number of personal lines claims received by the company in 2013 has increased.
Speaking to MSTI's head of claims and claims support Vickey Swanevelder, she says: "The 2013 statistics, as well as the solid improvement from the 2012 figures, should provide ongoing assurance to our clients and brokers that we are committed to applying the principle of absolute fairness in all our dealings with them.” She further added that the stats will be used by the Financial Services Board in monitoring the market conduct of insurers going forward.
Two very good indicators of how an insurer finalises and deals with disputes is the number of complaints received and overturned by the Ombudsman, in favour of the client. According to the Ombudsman's latest report, a constant three out of 1000 claims filed with insurers ended up as complaints to the Ombudsman. The average turnover rate for the year was 33%, which means that only one out of three decisions made by the insurer was overturned.
With that in mind, MSTI is very pleased to see that they came out on top with the way in which they deal with their customers. "We are comfortable that we are not only living up to our standards of treating customers fairly but also to that of the regulator,” Swanevelder concludes.