Factors Affecting the Timeliness of Corporate Non-Life Insurance Claims and the General Claims Management System in Ghana

Abstract

This study explored the actions of policyholders that affect the timeliness of claims settlement (the reporting time of incidence (RTT), understanding of policy’s term and conditions (PTC), provision of information and documents (PID), review of insurers by policyholders (RA)). The study also examined from the insurers’ point of view, some of the factors surrounding claims settlement and finally established some challenges faced by both parties externally in the claims process. Data collection was done by administering questionnaires to corporate policyholders and non-life insurance providers. Data obtained from randomly selected corporate policyholders was analyzed using the ����+ regression method. Results from the regression showed that a delay in reporting of incidences reduced the chances of receiving claims on time while a better understanding of policy’s terms and conditions and, a good provision of information and documents increased the chance of claims being paid on time. Also, how policyholders view and rate their insurers affect the timeliness of their claims settlement. A descriptive analysis was carried out for the data collected from insurers and results showed that insurers do not view the quantity and quantum of claims made as a factor to delays in claim settlements. In addition, some challenges faced by policyholders are poor customer services, complicated paperwork, delays in brokers’ activities and procrastination of payment. Some challenges insurers face during the claims process are delays in the reporting of claims by claimants, delays from the insured in presenting documents to substantiate claims, fraudulent claims, exaggeration of claim amounts, rush to go to court by some solicitors, sometimes issuing a write off summons before informing the insurer about the claim, misunderstanding of policy terms and conditions by insureds, cash flow challenges, delays in receiving reports from loss surveyors and other third parties, lack of local loss adjustors to handle complex claims, inadequate staffing of the claims department, underinsurance and poor attitude of claims management staff. The results found educates policyholders on how certain actions affect their claims settlement which will help put in place necessary measures in other to avoid any inconvenience. This study also creates awareness on issues concerning insurance claims which will soften the blame on the insurer and improve upon the image of insurance companies.