A meeting of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (Idra) was held Thursday with the MDs and CEOs of the country's life insurance companies. The meeting was presided over by Idra chairman Mir Nadia Nivin.
The meeting discussed in detail various important issues of the insurance sector including insurance claim settlement, restoring public trust, digital transformation, innovation of new insurance products, risk-based supervision, and regulatory reforms.
In the discussion, representatives of life insurance companies said that public confidence in the entire sector is being damaged due to complications in paying insurance claims for a long time in some institutions.
Concerns were expressed especially about the inability of some companies that are in financial crisis to pay claims.
In this context, the MDs of the insurance companies proposed a special assistance or bailout package like the banking sector.
In response, Idra chairman Mir Nadia Nivin said that he would consider the possibility of a one-time support package to resolve the current crisis in the insurance sector. However, for this, the industry will have to ensure effective steps to prevent a recurrence of a similar crisis in the future.
The chairman said that restoring public trust in the insurance sector is the biggest priority now. For this, timely payment of claims, establishment of good governance and accountability of the management and board of directors of the company must be ensured.
The meeting also emphasized the issue of digital transformation in the insurance sector. The chairman said that a real-time data-based monitoring system will be introduced. He said that data storage and management must be ensured through a secure and institutional system.
In addition, views were exchanged on reforming the commission structure to reduce the lapse rate of insurance policies, increasing actuarial capacity, developing risk management and introducing new and innovative insurance products including takaful.
Mir Nadia Nivin said that Idra has taken the initiative to move away from the conventional compliance-based control system and introduce Risk-Based Supervision (RBS). Through this, more effective supervision based on real-time information and risk assessment will be ensured.