Insurance Authority Tests Automated System to Curb Insurers’ Control Over Surveyor Selection

Kathmandu – The Nepal Insurance Authority has begun testing an Automatic Surveyor Deputation System that assigns surveyors to insurance claims, replacing the practice of insurers choosing them at their own discretion. The system responds to a long-standing demand of the Surveyors’ Association.

Testing began Monday. The Authority built the platform to make appointments more transparent and strengthen governance in claims assessment. Online training for 36 officials, including IT and claims heads of non-life insurers, was scheduled for September 29. Surveyors will also be trained, and reinsurers will be added to the platform later.

Complaints about the current process have been frequent: that it is neither scientific nor transparent, that some surveyors get too many assignments while others get few, and that insurers repeatedly favor preferred surveyors.

The system holds profiles of 680 registered surveyors, 88 of them institutional, covering expertise, seniority, availability, location, workload and past assignments. Once a claim is registered, the platform selects a surveyor using predefined criteria. For a motor accident claim, for example, it would pick someone with relevant expertise, based in the area, meeting seniority requirements and free to start immediately.

Individual surveyors can currently handle up to five assignments and institutional surveyors up to 10, but tracking them has been difficult. The system will record how many assignments each surveyor has received and completed, and whether they can take more.

The Authority set the criteria after consulting insurer chief executives, surveyors, claims heads and IT officials before software development began. Insurers are now supplying surveyor details for entry into the system. After launch, its performance and stability will be monitored closely at first, and security assessments, including firewall checks and vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT), will be carried out.

The Authority expects the system to stop the same surveyors from receiving repeated assignments and to cut the time and cost of settling claims. It should also reduce repeat assessments, processing delays and disputes with customers. Because the system records the criteria behind each selection, decisions will be easier to audit.

Over time, the data is expected to support evidence-based policymaking and help the Authority assess surveyors’ service quality and the experiences of insurance customers.