Maiden Edition Of Claims And Underwriting Klinik Organized In Ghana

7 August, 2018

The Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) in collaboration with Enterprise Life Insurance Limited, on Thursday August 2, 2018 held its 1st Claims and Underwriting Klinik at the African Regent Hotel in Accra, under the topic “Diabetes and Hypertention- Deeping Understanding among Life Underwriters and Claims Assessors”.

The two-hour (7am-9am) event, was attended by over fifty-two (52) participants from the various Life Insurance Member Companies of GIA.

In a welcome address, the Convener of the Claims and Underwriting Technical Committee of GIA and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Enterprise Life Insurance Company Limited, Mrs. Jackie Benyi said, the Ghanaian Insurance Industry is one of the fastest growing in Africa (in terms of gross written premium), and that growth presents both opportunities and challenges to insurance Practitioners. She therefore called on industry players to embrace capacity development and initiatives, as a way to capitalize on the opportunities associated with this growth.

“As an Industry, we must continuously train our people and as individuals, we must also take responsibility of our learning and cease every opportunity to do so” – she added.

In a brief remark, the Chairman of the Life Insurance Council of GIA and Managing Director (MD) of Glico Life Insurance Company Limited, Mr. Edward Forkuo Kyei reiterated that, one of his main objectives is to enhance capacity building of the Life Insurance Industry through the development of technical competencies, which he believes, is a key factor for growth in the Insurance Industry of Ghana.

Further, he noted that, “The importance of capacity building cannot be over-emphasized. We want to have a competent Claims Assessors and Underwriters, capable of making sound and professional judgment and decisions on behalf of their organizations. This I believe will translate into the overall “health” of the industry. Clearly, this Klinik intends to serve that purpose”

In his presentation, Dr. Philip Nyireku, a Medical Superintendent and a Public Health Pratictioner, at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, called on Life Insurers to move away from simple questionnaire based method for assessing hypertension and diabetes risks, to a score based method during underwriting.

The proposed method (Score based method) according to him, will offer Underwriters the opportunity to better assess the risk carried by each client (in respect of hypertension and diabetes), based on their score on some key hypertension and diabetes indicators. By this method, clients will willingly tell you their hypertension/ diabetes status without knowing it.
Dr. Nyireku touched on other key areas on the topic, which include description of the disease, Causes / Risk factors, diagnosis as well as its management.

The Claims and Underwriting Klinik is a breakfast session that has been developed for Underwriters and Claims Assessors in the Life Insurance Industry. The introduction of the Klinik is to enhance the technical capabilities and enrich the knowledge base of both Underwriting and Claim Assessors. Further, it would promote networking and continuous engagements amongst industry professionals.

This breakfast Klinik would seek to provide an excellent introduction to the principles and practices involved in life insurance underwriting, underwriting complex medical risks, underwriting complex non-medical risks and the use of specialist terminology in the underwriting of life businesses.

It would also afford participants the opportunity to learn how underwriting knowledge can increase insurance sales and build relationships.

The Kliniks would be organized quarterly.

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