Fund takes ‘Mtaani’ campaign to educate the public
BY MATHEW CHEPKEWEL
Policyholders Compensation Fund (PCF), held a sensitization campaign in Meru County to educate the public on its mandate, functions and to increase the public’s confidence in the insurance sector.
The campaign dubbed “PCF Mtaani” will traverse across all the 47 counties with the aim of increasing the level of awareness of PCF’s core mandate of providing compensation to claimants of an insurer that has been placed under statutory management or whose license has been cancelled and to increase the public’s confidence in the insurance sector.
According to Rosemary Kavili, the Fund’s Deputy Director of Corporate Communications, Meru is the eighth county that PCF has engaged since the launch of “PCF Mtaani” sensitization engagements forum.
“We will be traversing across all counties with a target of calling upon the public to come forward and lodge their claims for funding with PCF for those members of the public who had claims with Blue Shield Insurance Company Limited (under liquidation), United Insurance (under liquidation), Xplico Insurance Company (under statutory management) and Invesco Insurance Company (under statutory management),” she said.
Ms. Kavili emphasized that the Fund launched compensation for policyholders of collapsed insurers in March 2021, following an amendment to the Insurance Act in 2019.
Worth noting is that before the amendment, compensation for policyholders and claimants only commenced upon a collapsed insurer being fully wound up in court.
She added that due to delays in the winding up process for insurers in court, policyholders were unable to lodge claims for compensation and were thus unable to receive any reprieve from compensation for their claims with the collapsed insurers.
The Fund spearheaded the amendment of the Insurance Act to replace the requirement for winding up with a requirement for insurers to be placed under statutory management or have their licenses revoked for compensation to commence.
By the end of September 2024, the fund had disbursed at least Sh116 million as compensation to 890 claimants for insurers under statutory management and liquidation including Resolution, Concord, Blue Shield Insurance, United, and Xplico insurance companies as well as the Standard Assurance Company Limited.
During the five-day campaign, PCF engaged with various target groups including media, bodaboda riders, matatu owners, insurance agents, national government administration officers, business community, Kuppet, Knut, women, youth, religious groups and cooperatives.
Meru County Bodaboda chairman John Barasa welcomed the sensitization forum stating that it had addressed concerns about the reliability of insurance companies, expressing hope that the PCF's assurance of compensation would encourage more riders to consider insurance coverage.
“We have known various issues concerning PCF which has made us build confidence with insurance companies. We were avoiding having any policy with them for the way they usually collapse but now with the assurance of compensation from the PCF we will do the necessary,” Mr. Barasa said.