Kathmandu. The Karnali Province Office of Nepal Insurance Authority (NEA) has successfully conducted a two-day programme on insurance literacy in Birendranagar of Surkhet. The program was attended by journalists working in Karnali Province, life insurance agents and heads of insurers’ Karnali Provincial Offices and Branch Offices.
Discussion and interaction with journalists on insurance
Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Karnali Province General Secretary Khagendra Bhattarai was the chief guest and FNJ Surkhet Chapter Chair Sushil Raj Sharma was the guest and Nepal Insurance Authority’s Karnali Province Office Chief Nil Prasad Lamichhane was the chief guest of the program.
The event was attended by economic journalists, investigative journalists, radio, online and audio-visual journalists associated with various mass media based in Karnali State.
On behalf of NRA, Assistant Director Bhim Bahadur Majhi presented a working paper on various topics including introduction and importance of insurance, important statistics related to insurance sector, status of insurance in Karnali province, role of insurance sector in poverty alleviation, role of mass media in insurance development and expansion of access, among others.
On the occasion, the journalists inquired about the cumbersome insurance claim process, the mystery of delay in payment of corona insurance claims, the reasons for non-payment of claims in apple farming in Jumla, the role of reinsurance in insurance and the official deadline for claim payment.
General Secretary Khagendra Bhattarai said that insurance literacy has been increasing in Karnali state in recent period and it is necessary to continuously promote insurance literacy in rural areas. Stating that both the initiatives of the NRA and the journalists’ pen were necessary for expanding the scope of insurance, he urged the government to create environment to encourage journalists covering insurance coverage.
Speaking at the end of the program, Chief of the Karnali Province Office Nil Prasad Lamichhane said that the insurance insurance has been a powerful medium to improve the living standard of the people of Karnali Province which is geographically remote and economically backward. Stating that the payment of claims is evidence-based, the payment process would not be long if necessary documents are provided on time, he said, adding that the role of mass media was important in promoting insurance literacy.
The program was hosted by NEA Assistant First Bishwo Raj Bhattarai and 45 people attended the program.
Interaction with insurance agents
SURKHET, Jan 13: A discussion and interaction program with the insurance agents working at the branch offices of Life and Micro Life Insurance Company in Surkhet district was held at Birendranagar, the capital of Karnali Province on January 26.
In the program, discussions were held on Nepal’s financial system, introduction and importance of insurance, legal provisions related to insurance, expansion of access to insurance, role of intermediaries in development and creation of healthy competitive insurance market, status of spent and surrendered insurance in Karnali Province and the responsibility of agents to reduce it.
Similarly, the main essence of the insurance was risk management, it was emphasized that the term insurance should be oriented towards the sale of term insurance rather than term insurance and the insurance should be done as per the condition and financial capacity of the proposer. The working paper was presented by Bipana Panthi, Assistant Director of Nepal Insurance Authority.
During the interaction, the agents participating in the interaction expressed the view that there was a misinterpretation of the bonus rate in the insurance, due to the long term nature of the insurance, the insured could not pay the installment, and the delay in the payment of the claim had affected the credibility of the insurance. It also pointed out the need for a professional agency and the participation of the authority in imparting training to the agents should be mandatory.
On the occasion, Chief of Nepal Insurance Authority’s Karnali Province Office, Nil Prasad Lamichhane, said that life insurance could also be a tool of money laundering. He made it clear that the business should be rejected or the concerned insurer should be informed in such a situation as it could be a risk from the point of view of money laundering if the person with a large insured, single insured, spent and paid-up insurance policy wants to re-insure.
Addressing the questions and queries raised by the participants, he stressed that insurance companies should reach out to rural areas and not limited to urban areas to expand insurance coverage.
Interaction with Heads of State and Branch Offices of Insurers
An interaction program was held at Birendranagar, Surkhet on January 28.
During the discussion, the province and branch chiefs of the insurers informed about the current status of insurance business in Karnali Province, the status of claim payment, the impact of losses during the Gen-G movement on the insurers and the number of claims related to the same.
Likewise, the participants said that challenges were seen in effective service delivery due to lack of employees, lack of expected support from the central office while taking initiative to conduct CRS and insurance awareness programme and difficulty in obtaining license of life insurance agent.
Addressing the queries raised during the program, Chief of Nepal Insurance Authority, Karnali Province Office, Nil Prasad Lamichhane, said that the insurers should emphasize on updating the KYC of the insured, the life insurers should take special initiative for the payment of paid-up and maturity claim payment and the non-life insurers should make the claim payment process easy and systematic. He made it clear that the insurers should work effectively to prevent the insurance sector from becoming an instrument of money laundering.
He also said that all the insurers should carry out insurance awareness and CRS related activities in Karnali Province and the authority will provide support if needed. In the end, he directed all insurance companies to operate their business in a healthy and disciplined manner by following the policies, rules and directives. About 40 people participated in the program.
