YOU GOT IT WRONG, INSURER TOLD

The Commissioner of Insurance, Mr. Israel Kamuzora

In Summary
Alliance Life Assurance Tanzania chief executive officer Byford Mutimusakwa was recently quoted by Tanzania Invest.com — an online weekly newsletter — as saying it was much easier selling life insurance to companies than to individuals

Dar es Salaam. A suggestion for employers to to provide life insurance in Tanzania has been turned down.

Alliance Life Assurance Tanzania chief executive officer Byford Mutimusakwa was recently quoted by TanzaniaInvest.com — an online weekly newsletter — as saying it was much easier selling life insurance to companies than to individuals.

Mr Mutimusakwa suggested that the regulator introduce regulations that oblige employers to provide life insurance.
“Nonetheless, there is huge potential in individual life insurance in Tanzania but we can sell group life only to corporates that are interested in offering competitive benefits to their employees. However, there are not many large companies in Tanzania because businesses are centred on individuals. Consequently, because there aren’t many buyers of life insurance, price undercutting occurs which leads to a price war,” he said.

However, the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority swiftly countered that the suggestion was impractical anywhere in the world.

“Life insurance is optional by law…You cannot force employers to cover their employees with it,” the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr Israel Kamuzora, said. “Employers can even willingly decide to identify key men to provide them with insurance.”

He said it was only employer’s liability and workmen’s compensation insurance that employers were obliged by law to provide to their employees. Mr Kamuzora also said there was no chance for price undercutting to occur in Tanzania’s insurance sector.

“Price undercutting used to be there, but now it is a thing of the past. We looked for experts to end the problem,” he insisted.

The issue was also raised during last month’s 19th annual Insurance Week and a number of insurers criticized the tendency by some companies to charge lower premiums.
The Citizen