Syed Shahriyar Ahsan — FE Photo The state-run Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) is set to roll out 'online motor insurance service' soon to provide hassle-free service to their clients.
"We'll introduce the facility very shortly," SBC Managing Director Syed Shahriyar Ahsan told the FE in an exclusive interview recently.
To avail themselves of this service, the clients would not need to come to the SBC's selling points. Rather, they could collect their policies online, he said.
He also said the SBC has a plan to introduce the insurance form and policy in Bangla so that the clients can easily understand.
Mr Ahsan joined the SBC as its managing director in 2016. Prior to this, he served as the managing director and CEO of the United Insurance Company Limited, a listed privately-owned non-life insurance firm.
The SBC MD said some initiatives have already been taken to improve the services of the reinsurance division of the corporation.
The claim settlement procedures have been simplified for quick settlement of claims in order to brighten the image of the SBC as a professional re-insurer, he added.
"Now the private insurance companies are getting better reinsurance services from our organisation," said Mr Ahsan, who has over 30 years of experiences in different fields of non-life insurance.
He said some private insurance companies are illegally issuing policy for government property secretly in violation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they signed with the SBC.
The SBC MD said: "Sometimes, we observe that some big projects under different ministries want waiver from Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) for not doing insurance from the SBC because of lack of their confidence on the state-owned enterprise."
"Obtaining insurance coverage for big projects by the foreign insurance companies hampers the national interest of the country, as huge amount of foreign currencies goes abroad through such practices."
He, however, said that as part of raising awareness about the existing law regarding insurance of public properties and big government projects, the SBC has written to all the ministries requesting them to comply with the Insurance Act.
"At the same time, we have developed our relationship with reputed overseas re-insurers to extend quality service for obtaining competitive terms of insurance and quick settlement of claims to overcome the image crisis of SBC and to establish the name of the SBC as a very professional insurer and re-insurers among the clientele group," Mr Ahsan said.
On outstanding premiums with the privately-owned non-life insurers, he said they have taken initiative to realise the outstanding premiums.
"We prefer negotiation and at the same time speeded up the process for settlement of outstanding claims of private insurance companies to earn their confidence to pay their premiums on regular basis," he went on.
On bancassurance, the SBC MD said it has a great potential in Bangladesh, as the people's confidence on the banking sector is higher than the insurance sector.
Selling insurance products through banking channels is called bancassurance.
"This idea of bancassurance has developed in many countries."
Mr Ahsan said the insurance regulator IDRA and the Bangladesh Bank, the banking sector regulator, should work together for successful implementation of bancassurance in Bangladesh.
He said: "We're now planning to introduce two health-related insurance products -- one is for government employees and the other is for mass people."
The SBC has valuable land and buildings in major cities, but many tenants do not pay rent.
The present management has been conducting drives against such type of defaulters. The management has also planned to construct high-rise buildings for efficient uses of the properties.
"We've taken initiatives to increase the SBC's rental income," said Mr Ahsan.
This is reflected in financial statements of the SBC as the financial position of the SBC has already improved, he added.
SBC is the only state-owned non-life insurer in the country, operating under the direct control and supervision of the Ministry of Finance.
SBC has a very strong financial base. It has a market share of over 20 per cent of the total premium income of the insurance market of Bangladesh.
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