Complaints lodged against the insurance industry players grew 40.6 percent to 506 cases in the first quarter ended March, up from 360 cases a year earlier.
The surge is a signal that policyholders are increasingly dissatisfied with the services offered by underwriters including payment of benefits.
The report by the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) shows that pending complaints against general insurers grew by 12 percent since last year from 71 percent to 83 percent in the period under review.
The regulator said unresolved cases against insurers in the same period rose from 47.7 percent up from 47 percent in the previous year.
“The authority registered 506 complaints in the first quarter of 2022. General insurance business accounted for 83 percent of the complaints whereas 17 percent were made against long-term insurers,” the report read.
Last year, there were 360 cases at the authority, of which the general insurance business accounted for 71 percent of the complaints whereas 29 percent were made against long-term insurers.
Over the period 76 (30 percent) complaints against general insurers were resolved while 56 (53 percent) complaints against long-term insurers were resolved. The general insurance business has the largest market share in the country.
Insurance contracts that do not come under the ambit of life insurance are called general insurance. The different forms of general insurance are fire, marine, motor, accident, and other miscellaneous non-life insurance. In the first quarter of 2022, the IRA received 506 complaints and resolved 252 cases.
Some 254 reported cases were left pending in the quarter under review and 213 were against general insurers and 41 against long-term insurers.
“Over the period 207 (49.3 percent) complaints against General insurers were resolved while 45 (52.3 percent) complaints against long-term insurers were resolved,” the report read in part.
Most of the pending complaints were filed against Britam Life Insurance (9), Jubilee Insurance (8) and Pioneer (7) in the life business.
