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The Insurance and Pensions
Commission of Zimbabwe (IPEC) has issued a notice suspending
Regal Insurance from operating
with immediate effect. The notice is based on investigations into allegations
levelled against the entity such as failure to settle policy claims and
fleecing policy holders. The suspension was enforced in terms of section 67 of
the Insurance Act [Chapter 24:07]
prohibiting
the entity from selling insurance policies either directly or through its
agents or brokers.
The regulator has called upon Regal Insurance policy holders with outstanding claims to confirm their claims or make representations to IPEC on or before 28 June 2019. In addition, those yet to lodge claims are being directed to send through, their claims to IPEC for onward transmission to Regal Insurance.
The affected motor vehicle policy holders at Regal Insurance have potential alternatives in the form of MyDrive and EcoSure Moovah among other Insurers.
According to the notice, the following should
be provided in respect of motor insurance policy claims:
a. Duly completed motor insurance claim form
b. Police report
c. 3 quotations from reputable panel beaters
d. Claim assessor’s report (if available)
e. Bank details
f. Contact details (phone numbers, emails etc.)
Contacted for comment on products or services
being directly affected and the future of Regal Insurance? Mr Tendai Muoza whom
we were referred to, as the Managing Director advised us to email questions
since he had not seen the IPEC notice.
Mr Muoza did not respond to our questions
until the time of going to print. During our initial call to him, he
acknowledged and did not contest IPEC’s decision,
“We understand, if IPEC has issued the
statement because surely it is their role to safeguard the investments of
policyholders. I have not yet seen the notice.”
“Send through your questions, I will respond
after going through the IPEC notice,” said Muoza.
This is not the first time IPEC has axed
insurance service providers in a bid to enforce regulatory compliance and
promote value addition to investments by policy holders.
In September 2018, Regal Insurance hogged the
limelight again for non-compliance to the Insurance Act [Chapter 24:07].
IPEC issued a similar garnish on the entity for failure to settle policy claims,
NewsDay reported.
In the second quarter of 2016, IPEC suspended Heritage Insurance to join
the likes of Excellence Insurance and KMFS Insurance that were barred from
initiating and renewing business as a result of poor corporate governance and
unethical conduct.
These followed hardly on the heels of the
garnish on Global Insurance, New Reinsurance, Navistar Insurance Brokers and
Revival Insurance Brokers on the basis of unsound finances in the quarter to
March 2016, DailyNews
reported.
For Regal Insurance, non-compliance is gaining
foothold in their backyard and IPEC’s measures seem to be falling short of the
required impact to the endgame in these discrepancies.
We reached out to IPEC’s Public Relations
Manager Mr Lloyd Gumbo for clarity on the unending gap in poor corporate governance
and unethical conduct within the Insurance sector. Mr Gumbo was attending a
workshop, and he promised to revert with feedback after lunch hour, and he
could not even make it before we went to print.
The suspension of Insurance providers brings
with it stress and anxiety on the policy holders who bank on them as fallback plans
in times of uncertainty. Contrary, these measures bring opportunities in the
marketplace, thanks to competition! The
affected motor vehicle policy holders at Regal Insurance have potential
alternatives in the form of MyDrive and EcoSure Moovah among other
Insurers.
MyDrive is a low
cost Usage Based Insurance product from FBC Insurance where policy
holders are charged and covered for the kilometers they travel.
EcoSure Moovah is the
insurance arm of Cassava Zimbabwe
which houses Ecocash
in the Econet Group of Companies.
Moovah is a consolidated package which offers customers monthly vehicle
insurance premiums, in instalments in addition to paying for ZINARA and ZBC
licence discs on the go by dialling short code *901# on the phone or
downloading the EcoSure Moovah app.
Considering the hyperinflationary Zimbabwean environment
we are yet to see if there is light at the end of the tunnel in the Insurance
sector. IPEC now has to do a balancing
act in terms of enforcement considering that some premiums are now being
covered in USD and the majority in the local ZWL.