Distinguished EXCO Members, CEOs of Insurance Companies, Fellow Members, Members of the Secretariat, Ladies & Gentlemen.

We are delighted to welcome you to our 22nd Annual General Meeting of the National Insurance Claims Society (NICS) for the Term 2020/21. The last EXCO meeting was held on the 09 February 2021 ending the 2020/21 Term.

Before we usher in the new Term 2021/22, let’s flash back some events and programs that the Society had offered and organized for the Members throughout the outgoing term.

2020/21 remarked the 22nd anniversary of this Society. We are pleased to announce that presently the Society have 24 Member companies, comprising of:

• 15 General Insurers
• 2 Life Insurers
• 1 Composite Insurer
• 3 Takaful Operators
• 3 Reinsurance Companies

The Society will continue its efforts to promote and welcome more Members from the industry. It will also provide networking opportunities for wider knowledge-sharing and could also accelerate information exchange within the insurance fraternity.

EXCO Members are the driving force of the Society, involving the volunteers from Claims professionals who are nominated by the Member companies.

There are focused main Sub-Committees formed to carry out the Society’s activities, namely:

• Education & Training, headed by Ms Joey Lee from Tokio Marine Insurance.
• Networking & Special Project, headed by Ms Tan Joke Boey from Malaysian Re.
• Best Practices & Anti-Fraud, headed by Mr Malkidh Singh from Liberty Insurance.

Special applause to all the Members of the named Sub-Committees for their time, commitment and dedication throughout the expiring term.

Educational seminars were organized on a wide range of legal, medical, practical and technical claims related topics presented by experts in their respective fields. Lawyers, Doctors, Adjusters, Consultants and Forensic experts are some of the professionals who were the distinguished Speakers at NICS seminars.

Even with the unprecedented challenging pandemic situation, the Society had continued its efforts to educate the claims industry. The EXCOs are glad that we are able to adapt to the new norm and embraced digitalisation.  We are proud that NICS has successfully organised the following Webinars:

• Unlocking Business Intelligence In Healthcare Insurance 

• For all health insurers to be aware of current trends in health insurance frauds and clinical malpractice that can lead to inflation in overall healthcare cost in the industry.
• Deep driving into Medical Trends.
• Experience sharing from user perspective – RPA as industry benchmark.

• The Application Of Forensic Science In Claims Processing

• Determining the area of origin and spread of fire using computer modelling.
• To introduce the investigation process of forensic engineering.
• To introduce the methods of investigation for fraud detection in insurance claims

• Windscreen Fraud & Motor Claims Investigations

• To create fraud awareness on windscreen claims related.
• To share some important fraud indicators aligned to latest fraud trends.
• Introduce some methods of investigations for fraud windscreen claims.
• To assist Participants in understanding fraud in BI & OD claims and the challenges faced in obtaining the necessary proof to defend against a fraudulent claim.

We believe that well educated claims professionals are best able to represent their industry’s interests by providing excellent claims services professionally to the organization and customers.

To this effect, we commend the Education & Training Sub-Committee for being very active, effective and delivered a meaningful range of related topics for the benefit of its members.

Besides offering the claims industry in general and Member companies in particular specialized educational services, one of NICS objectives is also to enhance opportunities and provide a valuable platform for networking for the Insurance Industry.

We regret that we were unable to organize any visitation this term due to the pandemic situation. However, NICS has ventured into a special project to publish Suspicious Claims Scenarios Booklet.

Ladies & gentlemen, this Booklet will share knowledge on how fraud indicators manifest themselves in various claims scenarios. It will be a compilation of some high concerned and common suspicious claims scenarios with industry experiences of actions taken and lessons learnt from handling such claims.

The said Booklet will be printed and distributed to all Member companies on complimentary basis. Trust the Booklet will benefit the claims industry and be a good reference to Claims Handlers in their daily claims assessments. We are also hopeful that this Booklet can spur on further collaboration and sharing within the claims fraternity.

A special appreciation to the Networking & Special Project Sub-Committee for their dedicated valuable time and great efforts for this Booklet.

We were able to pool claims professionals via the Claims Managers Meet in gaining and sharing their expertise, experiences and technical know-how for the betterment of the industry in various areas of concerns.

This Claims Managers Meet was also initiated to target on rapport building among Claims Managers of Member companies in order to promote an atmosphere of camaraderie and fellowship. This was fully sponsored by NICS as a token of appreciation to all Member companies who had been supporting NICS activities throughout the year.

Towards this aim, the Claims Managers Meet was conducted on quarterly basis jointly by the Best Practice and Anti-Fraud Sub-Committee.

We have managed to organize virtual Claims Managers Meets sessions for this term on the following topics:

• Lightning Damage & Use of Lightning Data for Claims Verification by Ir. Noradlina Abdullah, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB)

• To educate the participants on lightning damage to electronic appliances and/or devices typically located within residential settings.
• To increase the participants’ awareness and knowledge on many aspects of lightning, including characteristics, types and sources.
• To inform the participants on the availability and applications of lightning data in justifications and verifications of claims for damage due to lightning through examples and case studies.

• Polygraph Lie Detection by Dato’ Sri Akhbar, Akhbar & Associates

• Verify statement
• Obtain additional investigative leads of an offence
• Can be key to solving a case in a short period of time

The EXCOs are delighted that about 305 participants attended and well benefited from all the informative initiative sessions throughout this term.

On behalf of NICS, I take this opportunity to record great appreciation to our esteemed Member companies for their most valuable support and contributions made during the year.

Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the contributions and services volunteered by all the EXCO members who have played their roles in delivering the activities for this term.

Our gratitude also always goes to Ms Nancy and Ms Neethya from the Secretariat under the guidance of Dato’ N K Jasani who has relentlessly pursued the Society’s objectives together with us.

Thank you for your precious time and kind attention.

Chairperson