The office of the ombudsman for long-term insurance has begun a form of naming and shaming of companies slow to respond to complaints logged with it.
Deputy ombudsman Jennifer Preiss told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday that the office felt it was sending out too many reminders to insurance companies not responding to complaints within the tighter deadlines imposed in 2006.
Preiss said in October last year the ”ombudsman’s committee”, made up of representatives of insurance companies including Sanlam, Old Mutual, Discovery and Clientele Life, ”came up with quite a unique, different kind of approach”.
The companies asked that the names of all the errant insurers and how many reminders had been sent to them in the past few months be made known among the committee members.
”It’s definitely worked,” Preiss said of the meeting this month when the information was presented for the first time.
Last year the ombudsman’s office finalised 5 519 full cases, 78% of which were completed within six months. — Sapa