NAICOM, Fire Service plan joint insurance c’ttee
he National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said it has concluded plans to set up a joint committee with the Federal Fire Service as a further step at ensuring the implementation and enforcement of Section 65 of the Insurance Act 2003.
A statement posted on NAICOM’s website said the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel, disclosed this on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 during his advocacy visit to the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Engr. Joseph Garba Anebi.
Mr. Daniel told the Federal Fire Service boss that insuring public buildings is made compulsory by the provisions of Section 65 of the Insurance law.
He said with the number of public buildings in Nigeria estimated to be 10 million, “it is sad that most of these buildings are uninsured, thereby putting the lives and property of third parties who have rights of access to these buildings at great risk.”
He explained that the object of the visit was to seek a mutually beneficial partnership and collaboration with the fire service in the on-going drive by NAICOM to implement and enforce compliance with relevant provisions of the extant laws relating to insurance of public buildings in the country.
Mr. Daniel disclosed at the meeting that in recognition of the unique role of the fire service, especially in safeguarding the society from losses arising from fire and other perils, the insurance law provides that .25 per cent of insurance premiums generated from public buildings be set aside to assist in the funding of the fire service. The fund is to be applied in the procurement of firefighting equipment for the agency.
Engr. Anebi in his response said the Federal Fire Service is ready to collaborate with NAICOM to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the law. “We already have an enforcement team in place that ensures compliance with our codes which we can also deploy for this purpose. We also have inspectors who carry out risk assessment of buildings. The task of verifying compliance with the insurance law could also be added to the check-list of our inspectors.”