BULAWAYO, Jun 11 (NewsDay Live) - The insurance industry is facing a huge trust deficit that continues to suppress growth and public confidence, a senior executive has revealed.
Addressing delegates attending the Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe (IIZ) 2026 Winter School in Bulawayo this Thursday, Insurance and Pensions Commission’s (IPEC) insurance market conduct manager Elliot Tsuro called for the rebuilding of trust to ensure industry's sustainability and growth.
The winter school is running under the theme, “Future-proofing Insurance: Navigating Disruption to Build a Resilient and Sustainable Industry,”.
Insurance professionals from around the country are attending the event to discuss challenges and map the way forward for the industry’s development.
Tsuro said insurance is built on trust as it represents a promise to honour future claims, warning that failure to uphold that promise has far-reaching consequences.
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“Insurance is a promise to pay future claims. Without trust, insurance penetration falls, policy lapses increase, complaints rise and regulatory intervention increases,” he said.
Tsuro noted that Zimbabwe's insurance penetration remained at just 2%, largely due to a legacy of hyperinflation that eroded public confidence in financial institutions.
“Trust is the new currency. Organisations must move beyond ceremonial compliance and treat trust as a core strategic asset.”
Tsuro also urged insurers to embrace technology responsibly, saying while artificial intelligence and automation could improve efficiency and fraud detection, companies must maintain human oversight and protect customer data.
“A data breach is no longer just an IT failure. In an era of digitisation, it is a brand emergency that can permanently erode customer trust,” he said.
Tsuro further challenged insurers to move beyond compliance and risk management towards building lasting reputations anchored on customer trust, ethical conduct and transparency.
“Customers believe us, and ultimately customers advocate for us. That is the journey from regulation to reputation,” he said.
