Insurance body urged to create awareness

AN independent public interest loss adjuster, Rodney Kirio, has called on the Insurance Commission of Papua New Guinea to ensure insurance firms conduct greater awareness.
Kirio, who has been in the insurance business for more than five years, said many people did not know their rights on making insurance claims.
He said this was mainly in situations dealing with motor vehicle accidents or injuries.
He said most people were unaware of their rights to make third party cover claims within six months of the incident.
He said sometimes claimants could ask for an extension of time as they had been hospitalised for more than six months but most people did not do so because they did not know they could make such a claim.
Kirio alleged that some employees of insurance firm Motor Vehicle Insurance Ltd were making corrupt deals with members of the public.
He said some employees had been asking for cash from third party claimants before processing their matters.
He said their actions were illegal.
Kirio said he had evidence and was prepared to prove them guilty as he had witnessed these practices on a number of occasions.
He called on the company’s management to look into the matter and investigate officers involved in such corrupt practices.
The National attempted since last week to get MVIL’s comments on the matter but was unsuccessful as the acting chief executive officer Moses Koiri was unavailable.