OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance reports on record numbers
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada's OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI) held its annual general meeting and released its annual report for 2016/17, reporting on a year of record numbers and renewed priorities.
Highlights:
- Complaint volumes increase by 23.2% across Canada, marking a historic high
- Increase in complaints from Quebec (+36.2%), Prairie provinces (+25.6%) and British Columbia (+ 24.4%)
- Public contacts exceed 87,000
- Edmonton office established as a part of western expansion strategy
"We discovered many things about ourselves this past year: we are small yet influential; we are experts in our field; we are strategic; and we are ready to redefine our future," said Chair Dr. Janice MacKinnon at the meeting on September 14, 2017. "The launch of OLHI's new case management and reporting system (CMRS) and website provides us with an opportunity to take a fresh look at how we do business today and moving forward."
Among OLHI's business plans for the future is increasing visibility outside Central Canada. This past year, complaint volumes rose in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. To build on this momentum, OLHI established a physical presence in Edmonton in Q4 with a new office.
For fiscal 2016/17, OLHI received 2,632 complaints, with 57.5% of these relating to denied claims. Disability, life and employee healthcare & dental, together, made up 83.9% of all product complaints. Web visits rose by 19.1% over last year, reaching nearly 85,000.
"OLHI is successful because of stakeholder support and the respect we receive as an independent, impartial organization," said Brigitte Kent, Acting Executive Director. "This allows us to meet our benchmark of closing 80% of all complaints within 120 days."
Looking ahead, OLHI will continue to measure effectiveness and efficiency, identifying best ways to utilize the CMRS and accelerate service without sacrificing quality. OLHI will also complete its third Independent Review and begin work on ensuing recommendations.
For more detail on OLHI's operations, including case studies and statistics, the full 2016/2017 Annual Report is available at http://olhi.ca/news-publications/annual-report/.
About the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance
The OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI) is Canada's only independent complaint resolution service for consumers of Canadian life and health insurance. Canadians trust OLHI to review their insurance complaints about life, disability, employee health benefits, travel, and insurance investment products such as annuities and segregated funds. OLHI's free bilingual services are available to any consumer whose insurance company is an OLHI member – and, currently, 99% of Canadian life and health insurers are. OLHI also offers general information online about life and health insurance. To ensure impartiality, OLHI's operations are overseen by the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR). For more information, visit www.olhi.ca.
SOURCE OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance
Media contact: Andrea Zviedris, 416-777-2962, [email protected]
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