‘ Zim insurance law archaic’

ZIMBABWEAN insurance law framework is archaic and is a major stumbling block to for the industry to move with modern times, a local legal practitioner has said

Speaking at the ongoing Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe (IIZ) winter school in Kariba , George Mboko of TG legal practitioners said the industry should venture into untapped markets and avoid focusing on traditional markets.

“ There is an Insurance Act Amendment Bill being mooted. It still retains the majority of the legal framework already in place. For example, the burden of duty of utmost good faith is still largely being maintained despite the changes in most other jurisdictions. We are living in a VUCA ( Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) environment. Old habits must be discarded. Disruptive innovation is required instead of focusing on the traditional way of doing business.” he said

Mboko said the industry needed to lead the revamping of the industry giving the example of the UK and Scotland whereby the Insurers voluntarily abandoned enforcement of duty of utmost good faith for the good of the industry.

He noted that collaboration was the new competition and the industry needed to act swiftly.

Speaking at the same conference Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) principal analyst, Colleta Marufu pointed out that regulators should keep in line with insurance trends so as to promote innovation and at the same time minimise the risk to the policyholder.

“However, for effectiveness, there is need to strike the right balance between liberty versus control, self-regulation versus public regulation, cost versus benefit and ex-ante versus post-ante regulation.,” she said

Marufu said the regulator was working on a number of innovations to ensure that the policy holder receives fair benefits at the end of the day.-newsday