Social & Health Insurances SZV hosted an information session for the team of the Ombudsman on Thursday March 28th. The SZV team presented a snapshot of the rights and obligations of both employer and employee for ZV insurance, the application and renewal procedure for medical insurance cards, the customer complaint and feedback policy, customer communication approaches and community engagement initiatives. Updates of previous recommendations of the Ombudsman to SZV were also reported back during the session. After the session, the Ombudsman team complimented SZV, stating that they could see that SZV is customer focused, that improvements were visible and that there is a genuine interest from the SZV team to assist its clients.
The Ombudsman is recognized by SZV as a key stakeholder, not only for their service in facilitating escalated complaint requests of residents, but as a means of sharing accurate information to the population. As there are many misconceptions about the role of SZV, its services and procedures, SZV regularly hosts information sessions for groups and institutions on the island. During the session with the Ombudsman, several key points were presented from an organizational aspect. These included; the distinction between the executing and advisory role of SZV, the responsibility towards maintaining financially sound funds and the customer service challenges and improvements over the years. SZV has recognized that many persons are not aware of the new service options but most importantly, their entitlement to the services offered.
Parveen Boertje, Unit Manager Customer Care & Communications commented: “It was a pleasure receiving the team members of Bureau Ombudsman. They had insightful questions about SZV’s services and we were able to clarify misconceptions about SZV’s roles.”
The two-hour information session is the result of a follow-up meeting of the two institutions. The Ombudsman had welcomed the team of SZV in 2018 for a workshop where general information was given about the role and procedures of the Ombudsman and cases of SZV complaints were examined. As part of the good working relationship between the two institutions, SZV had received a list of recommended bottlenecks to improve on. Some of the recommendations that have been implemented by SZV include providing customers with additional written confirmation and notifications of decisions, expanding accessibility of information to all customers and to provide more information on the medical insurance card renewal process.
