A mobile based system to curb customer exploitation in insurance firms(A case of a local Insurance Company, Kenya)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish a way in which customers seeking insurance products and services in Kenya can be protected from exploitation through use of a mobile based system. The study first explored the existing exploitation mechanism that customers seeking insurance products and services were experiencing. The study also identified the existing gaps not addressed by current ICT systems used by insurance firms in Kenya, and explore whether a system can be effective in curbing customer’s exploitation. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The focus was on a local insurance company, in Nairobi. The study collected data though a questionnaire and interviews. The designed questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity so as to determine the weaknesses of the research instrument before going to the field to collect data. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented using percentages and frequency tables. The study found out that majority of the respondents indicated that they experienced cases of customers exploitation occasionally. The most common forms of customer exploitation were non-disclosure of insurance product information, mis-selling of insurance products and fraud where customers are duped by unscrupulous agents or sales people. The study found out that the insurance company had not put measures to protect customers from exploitation. Majority of the respondents revealed that a system can be effective in curbing customers’ exploitation in insurance firms to a great extent. The study concludes that customer seeking insurance products and services are occasionally exploited by the brokers, agents, or sales persons. Some of the major cases of customers exploitation include non-disclosure of the information pertaining to the insurance product or service a customer is seeking for. The developed mobile based system was able to solve these challenges experienced by the customers. On the part of mis-selling, the mobile based system aids in the selling process, where once the agent enters in the details of the customer, and the product he or she is seeking, the premium is calculated automatically by the system. The customer also gets the details of the product/service he or she has signed up for immediately after the transaction is completed, via am SMS. It is also difficult for the agent or the sales person to dupe the customer or commit a fraud since the system can show the agent who served the customer; since the agent has to login first using his ‘Agent ID’, before serving the customer. It is therefore easy to know who conducted the transaction on the behalf of the customer. In addition, the mobile based system enhanced efficiency.