Harare (New Ziana) -The Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) on Friday challenged the sector to come up with products that address the needs of diversified clients.
Speaking at a research and development awards ceremony organised by the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe, IPEC commissioner, Grace Muradzikwa said the sector should use research and development to produce innovations which help increase insurance penetration rates.
“Regrettably, our insurance penetration is around 3 percent while previous studies and surveys conducted on insurance coverage indicate that about 30 percent of the population are insured, the majority of whom have funeral policies.
“One of the reasons behind this phenomenon is that the industry has products that are inappropriate for most of the population.
“I would therefore, like to challenge you to research on areas that could improve insurance penetration, for instance agricultural insurance and insurance for the informal sector given that the majority of our population are employed in these sectors. As an industry, we should also deliberately come up with measures that will ensure that everyone has access to insurance irrespective of their financial status, “she said.
She said IPEC values the importance of research and development as shown by the establishment of a dedicated unit within IPEC which focuses on research and innovation.
“We are equally alive to the fact that as the industry, you are moving with speed to research and introduce new innovations, which are subject to our review before they are introduced in the market.” “We, therefore, would not want to stifle innovation and growth because we don’t understand these innovations.
“To that end, we continue to capacitate the Commission staff to ensure that they are alive to the ongoing evolution in the insurance market,” she said.
Muradzikwa however said one of the major concerns raised against innovation in the insurance sector is that it exposes consumers to abusive practices by unethical insurers.
“Indeed, as the regulator, we have handled complaints filed by consumers where they felt they had been unfairly treated because of the nature of the policies that they signed up for on their mobile phones.
“Let me categorically state that while as the regulator, we do promote innovation, we will not condone abusive practices against consumers where insurers use their innovation to unfairly treat their consumers,” she said.
Speaking at the same occasion, Insurance Council of Zimbabwe chairman Patrick Kusikwenyu challenged the sector to come up with products which cover consumers from risks caused by pandemics and natural disasters.
“This will stimulate relevance for the sector to our customers,” he said.
New Ziana
