Kurnia Group
Kurnia victim of smear campaign, says MD
NEW STRAITS TIMES - Tuesday, February 6th, 2007
By Rupinder Singh
KURNIA Asia Bhd, Malaysia largest general insurer, says it is the victim of an "organised" smear campaign that claims the firm is in trouble.
Its managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Loh Heong Chow has denied the allegations and it has filed reports with the authorities, including the police.
In recent weeks, certain parties had been distributing flyers and sending anonymous short text messages (SMS), telling Kurnia's agents, customers and the public to cancel their existing policies with the insurer.
"We have lodged police reports regarding this matter and we have also reported the matter to the relevant authorities such as Bank Negara Malaysia which is the regulator of the industry and the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM)," Loh said.
The company came to know of the campaign about two or three weeks ago when its agents received the SMS and flyers.
The contents in the flyer and the SMS claimed that Kurnia was facing "problems" and warned that failure to terminate would lead to unsuccessful insurance claims.
Kurnia has lodged four separate police reports in Ipoh, Kuantan, Kota Baru and Kuala Terengganu.
Loh said he had been told the police are currently investigating the matter.
However, he added that the smear campaign had no direct impact on Kurnia's business. "Its business as usual," said Loh.
Kurnia is Malaysia's and South-East Asia's largest general insurer with premiums exceeding RM1 billion.
Loh said Kurnia is in a strong financial position with an asset base of RM2 billion.
He urged the public to ignore such messages and flyers and said Kurnia's policyholders should call its 24-hour Kurnia Auto Assist hotline should they encounter any problems.
Kurnia will start a series of advertisements soon to provide the public with better information on the company as well as to reassure its 3.5 million policyholders.