Enforcement of Compulsory Insurances is Biggest Challenge to Insurers, Says NIA Chair

Outgoing Chairman of Nigeria Insurers Association( NIA), Mr. Godwin Wiggle, has said that the greatest challenge to insurance industry operators has remained enforcement of compulsory insurances.

Wiggle, who stated this during his farewell press briefing at the NIA secretariat in Lagos, said recent report on 12million vehicles plying Nigerian roads with fake insurance certificates is an indication of how much the industry loses to the fake operators as well as how much revenue government at all levels lose to them.

He expressed the regret that one of the things that makes fake insurance operators to thrive in their business is because Nigerians like short cut in doing things, adding that those who patronise them are Nigerians who don’t want to follow the right channel in doing things.

He urged Nigerians to ensure that they get their insurance services through the right channels because the fake operators will have nothing to offer to them in the event of claims.

He also urged government to play its role in this regard, adding that although the insurers are doing their best in pushing the compulsory insurances like the third Party Motor Insurance, which to Nigerians, which they do through Nigeria Insurance Industry Data base (NIID), government, has a big role to play in enforcement of other compulsory insurances like the compulsory builders insurance.

Wiggle, said more Nigerians now make efforts to buy the third Party Motor Insurance from genuine operators because the Road Safety officials are enforcing it in different states with heavy fines on defaulters.

He said if a number of state governments industry operators have approached for enforcement of builders insurance will take responsibility of enforcing it for security of lives and properties in their states, more Nigerians would patronise the policy.

He said this has become necessary because Nigerians like to be put under compulsion before they can obey laws.

The problem of fake insurance operation in Nigeria is as old as insurance business itself. The development is causing the industry a large chunk of its premium especially from Third Party motor insurance business, as recent survey by the insurers, reveals that about 12 million vehicles are plying Nigerian roads with fake insurance certificates.

This prompted the NIA to come up with the NIID initiative.

The NIID is said to be the only central record of all insured vehicles in Nigeria. Until its launch in 2011, it was a lengthy process for vehicle owners and law enforcement agents to verify the authenticity of policies.

To date, the platform has captured over 3million vehicles. This is a far cry from over 14million vehicles plying Nigerian roads, exposing the massive level of fraud in insurance policy issuance since most car owners do not know they have fake papers.

A survey carried out by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) revealed that in 2014 only N12 billion was generated from third party motor insurance policies against N70 billion expected.