IPEC opens complaints handling office in Byo

THE Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) has opened a complaints handling office in Bulawayo to assist members of the public who have enquiries or complaints over their pension and insurance funds.

All along the regulator’s operations have been centralised in Harare, which saw clients from other parts of the country stranded as they could not access its services. Due to beneficiaries’ lack of knowledge, frustration and delayed contribution payments to pension funds by companies, millions of pension fund benefits lie unclaimed.

The opening of the new office in Bulawayo is therefore expected to empower citizens in the second largest city and surrounding provinces in the southern region to make enquiries or raise complaints against insurance companies and pension funds, IPEC public relations manager, Mr Lloyd Gumbo said.

He explained that plans were also underway for the regulator to open other satellite offices throughout the country in the next few years.

“One of our strategic goals is to enhance our accessibility throughout the country. We had been centralised in Harare for far too long, with our stakeholders such as policy holders and pensioners struggling to access our services yet our mandate is to protect their interests,” said Mr Gumbo.

“However, our board and management resolved that we should decentralise and we started by taking our complaints handling office from our Head Office in Greendale to the Central Business District in Harare in December 2019 because policyholders and pensioners had challenges getting to Greendale.

“We have proceeded to open another complaints handling office in Bulawayo at the Bulawayo Centre so that policy holders and pensioners from Matabeleland and parts of Midlands and Masvingo can access our offices.”

Mr Gumbo said any member of the public, policy holders and pension scheme members who have enquiries or complaints against insurance companies and pension funds that fall under IPEC, can visit the new offices. He, however, said strict adherence to Covid-19 prevention protocols remains mandatory.

“Our intention is to decentralise further to other provincial capitals to enhance our accessibility given our mandate of protecting the interests of policyholders and pension scheme members,” he said.-chronci.eoc.zw