RAF launches streamlined ‘customer-centric’ claims management centre
The Road Accident Fund has officially opened the doors to its customer relationship management centre which has already received more than 78,000 inquiries since July.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga joined RAF chief executive officer Collins Letsoalo for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the centre’s offices in Midrand on Monday.
She said for too long the entity had a negative reputation due to organizational challenges that hampered its ability to fulfill its constitutional mandate of administering claims to victims and those affected by accidents on South Africa’s roads.
“The fragmented claiming process, siloed operations, unintegrated ICT systems, and unfavourable organizational culture – among other things – contributed to the current organizational challenge. The RAF got known to be where you can make money out of nothing.”
The establishment of the centre was conceptualized in 2020.
WATCH:Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga:“Road Accident Fund became known as where you can go to make money out of nothing-if you want to be a millionaire &claim,sometimes for nothing,#RAF became just that” she says this abuse was made possible by organisational challenges pic.twitter.com/EEQkIqcIUR
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) October 9, 2023
In the first phase of the three-phase rollout of service, the 300 trained agents will facilitate the claims query management, the know your rights component, as well as the compliments and complaints platforms.
In the second phase, the RAF will launch litigation, medical, and pre-claim management components.
“The RAF wants to make sure its ability to collect pre-accident data, so that when a claim comes that information can already be pre-populated. So, we’ll already have your ID number, when the accident happened and we know how many people were injured in that vehicle,” said the fund’s Thembi Masilela.
In line with its theme of 2023 being “The Year of the Claimant”, the fund has committed itself to finalizing claims within three months.
RAF CEO Letsoalo urged claimants to know their rights when seeking assistance from attorneys, adding that the centre also aimed to curb the abuse of the fund and claimants by unscrupulous lawyers.
“I think the lawyers are going to hate this the most, because they tend to take more than what they are supposed to take of the claims, and they actually don’t give the party-party costs to the claimant as is expected.”
The launch takes place a day after the end of the public comment window for the draft Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill 2023 which was released on 8 September by the transport department.
READ: RAF cannot afford to cover foreign nationals, says CEO
The Law Society of South Africa is among several organisations, including medical aid schemes, warning the proposed changes to the Act would have dire consequences.
“If the draft Bill becomes law the rights of all drivers, passengers, and pedestrians to claim compensation for injuries they suffer in a motor vehicle accident will be taken away. In its place will be significantly reduced “social benefits”, read the society’s statement.
By 2 October, the LSSA said more 11,000 “strong” objections had been raised.
Meanwhile, in June the Auditor-General of South Africa awarded the RAF a disclaimer audit opinion for the 2020/21 financial year, with findings on non-compliance with legislation, including the Public Finance Management Act.
The transport minister said she was satisfied with the initiatives taken by the fund’s management to turn the organisation around.
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