Ghana: NIC introduces Complaints Management System

In an effort to enhance customer service for insurance policyholders, the National Insurance Commission (NIC) has introduced the Complaints Management System. This system allows policyholders across Ghana to easily reach out to the insurance regulator for assistance and support.

The implementation of an online system aimed at enhancing client satisfaction within the insurance industry is a pivotal factor in driving the growth and advancement of the insurance business in Ghana.

The system is engineered to grant insurance policyholders, irrespective of their geographical location, convenient access to the regulator with just a simple click on their mobile phone or any digital device.

The aim is to promote equitable customer treatment by offering an automated, smooth, interactive, and user-friendly process that enables the public to connect with the NIC in real-time without the need to physically visit any of its offices nationwide.

The CMS has since gone live on 1st of February, 2024 and has already had traction and response from the public and the insurance industry.

In his keynote address and declaration of the software as launched, the Ag Commissioner of Insurance, Mr Michael Kofi Andoh called on insurance companies to have systems in place to attend to clients’ needs.

This will definitely result in ultimate client satisfaction and trust among members of the insuring public.

He also mentioned “when people lodge their complaints and they don’t hear anything [from insurance companies], we don’t tell them anything, they go and come, some of them travel from their villages and come every day and they don’t seem to get any response from anybody, and you see, it gives us such a bad image”, he bemoaned.

He also indicated that notwithstanding the introduction of the CMS, policyholders can go to someone high up in the particular insurance company for the needed attention to be paid to them. “CEOs of insurance companies and intermediaries are to be responsive to utilize the system to their benefit”, he urged.

Mr. Wilson Tei, Chairman of the Insurance Awareness Coordinators’ Group (IACG), emphasized that many complaints from insurance policyholders are minor issues that could be swiftly resolved if they were escalated to higher levels within insurance companies rather than solely relying on front desk officers for customer service.