Ensure insurance claims are paid after proper investigation: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday called for ensuring that the insurance claims are paid after proper investigation to curb anomalies in the sector.

Addressing a programme to observe National Insurance Day 2023 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, the prime minister said there are allegations of anomalies in paying claimed money where unscrupulous people claim hefty amounts against their insured items.

"I request the people and authorities involved in the insurance sector to remain alert to ensure inquiry for finding out the actual loss from any incident," she said.

She asked them not to pay any money without proper investigation bowing down to the pressure from any person.

"Why is it not being implemented? Should I think the investigators are also the beneficiaries of this [anomalies]? I suspect they also have involvement in this," she said.

"Many people come to us, to me and the ministers or any other person, for favours, but you have to find out the actual loss," she said.

She requested the insurance companies to publicise various kinds of their products among the people as they sometimes are reluctant to take insurance policy.

Responding to a demand from the insurance companies, the PM said the government will look into the matter that without proper insurance no vehicle will be operating on the roads.

But she asked how third-party insurance is still operating in the country as such insurance for cars had already been cancelled.

"I know well how the third-party car insurance hurts as I was the victim of it," she said.

Briefly describing various measures for the development of the insurance sector, she said the government has enacted Insurance Act 2010, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority Act 2010, Insurance Corporation Act 2019 and the National Insurance Policy 2014.

She said her government has been implementing a Bangladesh Insurance Sector Development Project for modernisation of the insurance sector.

The PM stressed the need for complete digitisation of the insurance sector and asked all concerned to enhance the capacity of the Unified Messaging Platform (UMP) to increase the confidence of the people in this sector.

She said the government has appointed an insurance actuary to ensure the overall development of the insurance industry in the country accordingly.

"Insurance companies have increased in the country and we are implementing several mega projects. Insurance is necessary in every sector," she said.

"You people have to go for massive publicity about the good things of insurance as the people of our country largely ignored the system," she said.

The premier asked all to remain cautious so the global economic recession arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, sanctions and counter sanctions cannot harm Bangladesh in any way.

She handed over crests, certificates and three books – Unfinished Memoirs, Prison Diaries, and New China as I Saw – written by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the winners of the essay competitions at the school and college level.

She also distributed honorary certificates to National Life Insurance and the Popular Life Insurance for the life insurance category while the Green Delta Life Insurance and Sonar Bangla Life Insurance got the award for the non-life insurance category.