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25/11/2004 - Most people in developed countries deal with insurance companies at one point or another in their lives. How satisfactory is the experience? And can things be improved? OECD governments, working with the insurance industry, think they can, and they have published a checklist of guidelines for good practice.
On the one hand, the OECD's Guidelines for Good Practice for Insurance Claim Management call on insurance companies to handle claims speedily and fairly. On the other hand, they recommend that companies monitor customer claims more closely as a way of combating fraud. Both measures, they suggest, should help insurance firms to operate more efficiently and so hold down the level of premiums and improve customer satisfaction.
The guidelines were drawn up by the OECD's Insurance Committee, which brings together government and private sector representatives from the OECD's 30 member countries. Although the guidelines are not mandatory, they will provide a touchstone for best practice in both OECD countries and others, in an area where till now there was no international guidance.
To improve the way claims are handled, the OECD urges insurance firms to:
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Give customers the information and assistance needed to enable them to file claims quickly and with all the details required;
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Update customers on the status of claims and alert them if a claim may take some time to resolve;
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Work together to combat fraud, for example through industry-wide databases to report and share fraudulent claims. Staff should also be trained to spot potentially fraudulent claims more easily;
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Deal with claims quickly, fairly and transparently, tracking their performance through statistical databases and making this information public;
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Inform customers of complaints procedures and address complaints promptly, keeping policyholders informed of what they are doing in response to complaints.
At the same time, insurance industry watchdogs are invited to review companies' claims management services, especially in cases of suspected shortcomings.
For a copy of the good practice guidelines and for further information, journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media Relations Division (Tel. + 33 1 4524 9700).
For further information on insurance.
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