The Customer Is ‘The King’ And Has Rights

TO every business, the customer is the king; he or she is the life blood of the business. No matter how nice a product is, without a customer buying that product, it will be as good as not being there. Insurance is not exceptional to this notion.

In a liberalised economy like Zambia it is very important for the customer to know their rights. The fact is that Insurers are in business to make profit and will try as much as possible to achieve this objective. This makes a fairly knowledgeable customer deal with the ‘profit oriented’ insurers better than an uninformed one.

A renowned author and business consultant, Chibamba Kanyama, wrote in his foreword in the book I have written on Insurance which will be published soon as follows;

‘’Most scholars and academicians have shied away from exploring the depth and richness of this subject within the Zambian context for reasons that cannot easily be ascertained. One of the reasons, according to my assessment, could be the myth around the insurance industry generally. The view is that those involved with insurance conduct their affairs in exclusivity as though it is a secret society. Huge amounts of money get spent in networking among those within the sector and very few outsiders have a full comprehension of the nature of high profile activities that take place in insurance….’’

I would like to reiterate that time has come for our society to understand fields that have been conducted in exclusivity like Insurance. As it is said knowledge is power. Those customers who will go to insurers with knowledge will not accept anything less than what they deserve and insurers should brace themselves to face these informed customers.

The following are some of the rights customers need to know when dealing with insurers;

The insured has the primary right of service from the insurer. It must be understood that the insurer needs the customer as much as the customer needs the insurer. It is a win-win situation without either party considered superior. The customer must receive that service they are paying for. The customer must be handled with respect within the confines of the accepted practice standards.

Apart from getting the policy document early he has the right to get clarification of any condition or warranty or exception as contained in the policy document. The fact that the insurer knows better than the customer should not disadvantage the customer especially in understanding key terms and conditions. In this regard customers should be wary of insurers who give poor service. There is a lot of competition in the industry and insurers are alive to this fact.

The customer has the right to get the claim within a reasonable time based on the records submitted by him. If, however, for any reason a full claim is not paid but a non-standard claim is payable, he has every right to get convincing clarification thereon from the insurer. The ‘nice’ service given to the customer when buying insurance should also be given when a claim arises. In fact, the insurer needs to demonstrate what they promised.

Whereas the insurer reserves the right to choose the method of indemnity, the same should not be imposed on the customer. The customer needs to be engaged in the solution. It is not a matter of take-it-or-leave-it.

He has the right to be considered as a valued customer of the insurer irrespective of the quantum of insurance cover taken by him and he has the right to get reply to his letters to the insurer.

If there is any difference of opinion on the basis of settlement between him and the insurer, he has the right to have arbitration as provided in the condition of the policy.

There are many other rights for the customer which may not fit in this column. The bottom line I should emphasise is that the customer who knows his rights stands a better chance of getting a better deal from insurers and may also challenge some of the ‘unfair’ decisions by insurers.

The policy document is the mother of this knowledge; as a customer request for it and read through it. Remember if you can spend money to buy it then you can also spend money to read it or appoint a consultant in form of a broker or a sales agent to help you interpret it.

Please send your contributions/comments or questions to email: [email protected] or [email protected] or on face book search for Insurance Talk-Zambia page or call/text 0977 857 055

[The Author is a Chartered Insurer with eight years industry experience]

Posted by Editor on September 20, 2012. Filed under BUSINESS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry