The Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance (OSTI) has released her report for the 2015 calendar year. The OSTI is an
independent body to whom clients may complain if they feel they have been
unduly treated by their insurer regarding a claim. 

The OSTI lists, per insurer, some key
statistics:

·      
The referral rate, which shows
the number of complaints to the OSTI per 1 000 claims received by the insurer.

·      
The overturn rate, which shows
what percentage of OSTI complaints finalised were overturned with some benefit
given to the complainant. 

For the second year in a row, OUTsurance
has comfortably beaten the industry averages for both of these key indicators.
Of all the typical large short-term insurers, OUTsurance’s referral rate of 2
complaints per 1 000 claims was second only to Zurich Insurance. 

When looking at the overturn rate,
however, OUTsurance was ahead of the pack, with only 13% of its complaints
overturned in favour of the client.
The product of these two key indicators
gives a more complete picture of how fairly an insurer has handled its claims.
In this regard, OUTsurance outperformed all its major competitors, with an
overturn rate of only 2.3 claims per 10 000 claims processed. This is 38% better
than the next major competitor and approximately one-third of the average of
the major insurers.

“We came out tops for the second year
running and I am very pleased. The OSTI report is proof that our company has
the right approach to dealing with claims. Fair treatment and awesome service
to our clients when they claim is the most important thing we do”, said Ernst
Gouws, chief executive of OUTsurance.

“A massive thank-you to all of our claims
staff for living our company values, and ensuring our clients ‘Always get
something out’” Gouws concluded.

Source – 2015 Ombudsman
annual report, available at 
www.osti.co.za/annual-reports.html