Insurers dialogue with states in the fight against fake motor insurance

Insurance operators have begun discussions with five state governments to ensure that motorists obtain their insurance policy from genuine insurers.

The Chairman, umbrella body of insurance underwriters, the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) Mr Ganiyu Musa, who disclosed this in Lagos, announced that aside their discussion with the Lagos State Government, the insurers are at present discussing with Kaduna, Niger, Kogi and Ogun state governments to ensure that motorists get genuine insurance cover at the point of renewing their vehicle particulars at licensing offices across the aforementioned states.

Before now, insurers do not have their representatives at the licensing office, which served as opportunity for fake insurers to sell third fake third party motor insurance policy to unsuspecting motorists at any price.

The Chairman NIA said the industry was embittered about what it is losing to insurance racketeers and non-insurance of vehicles, adding that the association, on behalf of the insurance industry, was engaging five states with plans to extend to other states as the time progresses.

“We are also working closely with the state vehicle Inspection service on enforcement of third party motor insurance in the state. We are also engaging Niger, Kaduna, Kogi and Ogun States, and remain hopeful that other states will see value in the platform and embrace it.

“Out of the estimated 13 million vehicles in Nigeria, only about 2,939,767 Third Party Motor policies are in force as at Apr 26, 2021,” he added.

Musa, who is also the group Managing Director/CEO of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, disclosed that the association was also partnering the Federal Roads Safety Corps(FRSC) and the police to give them access to the Nigerian Insurance Industry Portal(NIIP), so that when a vehicle is apprehended, they can assess whether such vehicle carries fake or genuine insurance certificates.

Speaking on the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database /Nigerian Insurance Industry Portal (NIID/NIIP), Musa said: “The Nigerian Insurance Industry database was established to reduce soft market practices and eliminate fake insurance policies.

“The association has taken a step further by creating the Nigerian Insurance Industry platform to enable vehicle owners’ purchase their third-party motor vehicle insurance cover from the comfort of their homes and telephones.

“So far, we are seeing a lot of traction on the platform across the states of the federation and we are hopeful that other states will key into the project before the end of the year.”

Commenting on the Marine Module, he said: “As you are probably aware, the Central Bank of Nigeria has since integrated the NIA Marine Module into the National Trade portal and all insurance certificates required for import and export are generated from the Portal. This, no doubt, signals the end of fake Marine Insurance Certificates at the Ports.”

Recall, the Commissioner of Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas, recently charged practitioners in insurance sector to embrace disruptive business models in order to be able to build an industry that would withstand future changes in the sector.