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Professor JC van der Walt has been appointed and is a former rector and vice-chancellor of RAU and a former acting judge.
Van der Walt will oversee the protection of individual and group policyholders' interests through his involvement in the final settling of disputes between Sanlam and clients, reporting directly to Sanlam group CEO Johan van Zyl.
The move comes in the wake of several findings by the pension funds adjudicator against South African life insurers and for client complainants regarding excessive charges relating to early policy terminations, which the companies are appealing.
There has also been growing attention on broker commissions and the cost structures of the life insurance companies.
Announcing the appointment, Van Zyl said it was a further initiative in Sanlam's focus on client centricity.
"We strongly support actions to ensure that policyholders are treated fairly and we are continuously seeking ways to improve this.
"As part of this process, Sanlam is pro-actively addressing issues such as the cost base, product values, and the flexibility offered to policyholders.
"The appointment of an internal ombudsman of Professor van der Walt's stature is an extension of our client services.
"As such it will add a new dimension to the cornerstones of our values of accountability and transparency and meeting the individual needs of our clients," he said.
Once his appointment comes into effect later this year, Sanlam's internal ombudsman will be responsible for the final resolution of internal complaints received from the company's policyholders.
He will work closely with the ombudsman for Long-term Insurance as well as other statutory ombudsmen such as the Pension Funds Adjudicator and the FAIS ombudsman whom any policyholder could approach directly with complaints about the application of his or her policy rules.
Van der Walt will assume his position only later in the year due to other commitments. He will be based at Sanlam's head office in Bellville.
As his appointment is complementary to Sanlam's existing effective complaints-handling process, all client complaints will first follow the normal complaints procedure.
Van der Walt will then handle the final resolution of disputes.
