MPs call for protection of insurance policy holders
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday April 9, 2015 15:45
During the debate on the Insurance Industry Bill on Tuesday, the MP for Palapye and Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Moiseraela Goya said there is need for insurance companies to educate people about policies they signed up for. “Policies should not be made secret to people and how an individual would benefit. The reason why people are losing hope on insurances is because certain things are not usually clear. Again it is important that the business of insurance should be dealt with through insurance companies only,” he said.
He also implored the banks to refrain from engaging in insurance business because it puts them in competing with insurance companies. He said when banks sell insurance, they force their clients to spend a lot of money on insurance policies from both banks and insurance companies.
Gaborone Bonnington South MP, Ndaba Gaolathe said there is need for the government to protect policy holders especially because people have limited financial knowledge. “We need explicit mechanisms to explain how a policy holder would benefit from the insurance policy. Insurance companies should frame and make those calculations clear so that everyone could read them. This would help to solve dispute between policy holder and insurance companies,” Gaolathe said.
He said aggrieved policy holders are usually forced to engage attorneys whenever a conflict arise with insurance companies, but not every Motswana could afford legal battles.
Gaolathe noted that the insurance language is complex for many people to understand.
He said Batswana should have shares and own insurance companies. The Assistant Minister of Local Government and MP Mahalapye West, Botlogile Tshireletso said Batswana are forced to pay high monthly premiums but benefit little from funeral schemes.
“Many people complain that they pay every month without fail but at the end, the money would be little. Their feeling is that P7,500 is too little to bury someone,” Tshireletso said.
Gaborone Central MP, Phenyo Butale said there is need for the rights of the policy holder to be protected.
“Insurance companies should not take advantage of people,” Butale said.
The Leader of Opposition and MP for Gaborone Bonnington North, Duma Boko, however said people should enter insurance deals with their eyes wide open because an insurance policy is an agreement between the policy holder and the insurance company.
“People should not sign something that they do not understand, especially when it has terms of agreement. Again supervisory gaps that the bill is taking about are not well explained in this bill. I wish the minister could say them out so that we can comment very well on the bill,” Boko said.