The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) has established guidelines to govern the activities of its OmbudServices Oversight Standing Committee (OOSC).
Officially established in the spring of 2013, the OOSC oversees the complaint resolution process of the different insurance ombudsman services; it involves the collaboration of the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI) and the General Insurance OmbudService (GIO) with the the CCIR acting as their regulatory oversight body.
In a document posted to its web site earlier this month, the CCIR has established seven guidelines to govern the OOSC’s activities. They address:
- Independence
- Accessibility
- Scope of Services
- Fairness
- Methods and Remedies
- Accountability and Transparency
- Third Party Evaluation
"Each Guideline frames the Objective it seeks to achieve, and outlines measures that would implement that objective. The OmbudServices will be subject to external review from time to time to assess their achievement of these guidelines," reads the document. "The Guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive or prescriptive. However, taken together they provide an integrated best practices framework, drawing in significant measure on the work of the International Standards Organization."
