As a result of the program verification of the insurance activities development in Belarus over 2006-2010, the State Control Committee of Belarus found that some insurance companies were tightening terms of the citizens insurance payments to a year. This was stated by the SCC chairman Zenon Lomat on October 6.
«The terms of insurance payments to citizens drag at times for three or more months, there are cases, when citizens can not be paid the insurance on the contingency for up to a year. Who needs such an insurance company?» Zenon Lomot said.
The SCC head says that the Committee has been repeatedly drawing attention to significant faults in the activity of the Belarusian insurance companies, has been making proposals to improve the legislation, regulating this field. So, a series of regulations to improve the insurance activity was adopted in 2009, but according to the SCC Chairman, they have not yielded the expected result. «I do not want to say that the program has been blocked, but it’s far from its implementation,» Zenon Lomot said.
On the recommendation of the State Control Committee the heads of the three insurance companies have been removed from office. However, Zeno Lomot stated that there’s no proper control over the operation of insurance companies by the Ministry of Finance. The SCC, however, has a number of serious claims to «Belgosstrakh», which does not function properly, BelTA informs.
In addition, the SCC noted that today most insurance companies do not comply with the state program approved by the Government. The share of GDP insurance premiums over the past five years has not changed, and is almost twice lagging behind the established program parameters.
Life Insurance Program is Completely Blocked, Lomot
According to the SCC head, the program of voluntary life insurance and pensions, is «completely blocked». «Stravita» and the Belarusian People’s Insurance Pension Fund, which have been provided significant benefits by the State, do not fulfill their responsibilities. So, only 270 thousand people, which are under 3% of the republic population, were insured under life insurance and supplementary pension contracts in early 2010.
Zenon Lomot said that the very insurance companies do not share unfairly with themselves: one of the companies chairman salary, as well as of his deputy and chief accountant, amounts to Br7.1 million.
In addition, the head of the State Control Committee has criticized the service quality of policyholders — individuals. Often, insurance companies ask for additional documents from the citizens to receive insurance reimbursement. There are facts of unjustified subpoena of citizens on the subject of insurance payments. «It’s a disgraceful attitude to those people, at the expense of which they live,» Zenon Lomot believes.
As a result, the SCC of the Belarusian Ministry proposed the adoption of measures to restore order in the insurance industry, as well as to ensure strict control over the rules and terms implementation by insurance companies, including the consideration of citizens’ appeals.
