Kathmandu. The central general secretary of the Federation of Professional Insurance Agents is Om Bahadur KC. He has been associated with the Nepali insurance sector for nearly three decades. He has also highlighted the existing challenges that a person has to face from the achievements he achieves when he becomes an agent. There is no doubt that some of the questions he has highlighted correspond exactly to the agent’s problems and opportunities. Because he is a skilled and experienced character in this field. Summary of the conversation with KC, general secretary of the same agent federation at Insurance Talk}:
You were sitting with great enthusiasm that the insurance rules would come. The rules came. There is widespread discontent now. What are your dissatisfactions?
We were elected at lunchtime by ghosts. The Insurance Act, 2079 had come when he was elected. Then there were rumors that the insurance rules would come. For this, we ran from the Insurance Authority to the Prime Minister’s Office for about 23 months. There was an assurance that the rules would come in a way that would not do injustice to your class. There were a lot of things that would undermine this profession. Those things were included. But two or three things came as a root. The sub-rule of Rule 41 of the Regulations 2081 has become a dispute. The authority has said that it will amend it.
What things need to be amended?
It states that the renewal of agent license will be as prescribed by the Insurance Authority. We are concerned about what kind of personality the AUTHORITY has in its intentions and intentions, what it is like every year.
Sub-rules 3 and 4 of Rule 44 of the Rules are regrettable. If a person comes to get direct insurance, then he will get 50 percent discount. This in itself is a very interesting subject. The stage of commission is different. How many years of insurance a person gets is different from how much commission he gets. How much commission will be received in the first year and how much commission will be received in the second year. It is difficult for insurance companies to implement these things. When a policy is made, it is made in a different way. That issue is disputed. This agent gets the commission from the sum assured and bonus for their livelihood. The premium will not be deducted. Therefore, according to this rule, it comes from the company in a different way. Therefore, it is necessary to make this amendment. If this amendment is not made, we will not be able to work and will go on agitation.
A committee has also been formed to discuss the matter after the arrival of the new chairman. There is another similar law. If the insured does not pay the premium next year on the basis of non-renewal of the policy on the basis of work, the incentive will be deducted. This is not the case elsewhere. This resulted in two types of punishment for the agent. For one thing, if his insurance is not renewed, he will not get a commission. He didn’t get paid. The other is to respect that person for collecting a good premium from the company in the first year. In the second year, if the premium does not come in that way, it will be punished. What kind of intention is this? What will you do if you pay the installment again in the third year? Therefore, it also needs to be amended. Only about 60 per cent of the maturity has matured after being insured. However, to get 100 per cent benefits, we have to have 75 per cent maturity in insurance. In this, the AUTHORITY is showing the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry is showing the Authority.
To say that we have fully exercised our authority by the AUTHORITY seems to be their weakness somewhere. As prescribed by the Insurance Authority, sometimes if we are unable to control the agent, then the company and the insurance authority can ‘disconflify’ that agent on various things. There are policies he has brought for this. MdRT is currently qualified from January to December. In this, the agent of a company had qualified MDRT. The manager of the company has gone to the insured to disconfirm MDRT and has made various frauds, while the insurance authority has said that the policy can be canceled within a month. However, after more than a month, the policy was scrapped and MDRT was also scrapped. We are of the view that this should not create an atmosphere of manipulation.
Is it beneficial for companies to be disqualified from MDRT? He is the brand ambassador.
The company is thinking more about how to bring down that person than the benefits in Nepal. This is done so that it does not accept our point of view. The agent is easily aware of the mistakes made by the company. Similarly, we can also bring out the mistakes made by the AUTHORITY. Therefore, an agent is a profession that carries out the right message of insurance. If there is no open rule in it, then we have to be attached to the management and the authority. We are made to remain constricted for a variety of reasons.
I bring an insurance policy independently. I give business to the company. The commission comes, does it not mean that I will survive?
This is not the case in Nepal. Many companies are worried that if they go against the management, the license will be canceled. The company management has created pressure that the insurance policy will be scrapped. It has been sponsored by the authority.
You’ve previously talked about discount-incentives. It was opposed. Why can’t a citizen go to the company and get insurance?
It also seems like a citizen’s right to go to the company and get insurance done in his own way. However, there is no place for customers to go directly and get discounts while doing any business anywhere in the world. There is no discount on the medicines we need, the gas, shelter, and cotton we need. We are of the view that commercial insurance should be run in Nepal just as insurance is run as per international rules.
Nowhere in the world does a direct insured get a discount?
It’s nowhere. If you go to the noodle factory to buy us noodles, you will not give it at the wholesale price. That’s the same. The insured should get a discount, there is no complaint about it. But there should be a separate rule. There was no difference between the rate of policy sold by the agent and the rate of the policy sold directly.
a citizen is aware of insurance. If such a person himself goes to the company and buys a policy, if he says that he will not put an agent, then what conditions can be given to him?
Tariffs should be different. When you go directly, you have to see what to give or not to give. The policy may not be different, but the tariffs must be different. The agent does not accept the policy today by insuring today. He should prepare for insurance only after submitting the policy for how many days. It’s not about insuring, it’s only necessary for the agent. It still has to be force-selling. Accordingly, hard work is done. Now the company is also giving discounts. In such a situation, the agent’s hard work is like pouring water into the sand.
