Stakeholders in the Nigerian insurance sector have blamed the low penetration level of insurance in the country on the influx of quacks in the industry.
Chief Executive Officer, Assure Capital Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr. Joseph Ebete, believed that the low patronage by the Nigerian public can be attributed to the ignorance of the insuring public to differentiate between an insurance broker and agents or quacks, whose nefarious activities has eaten deep into the fabrics of the industry.
“The perception of an average Nigerian about the industry is that it is filled with fraudsters or brokers that don’t pay claims.
If you probe further to know if he has ever been a victim of such delayed claims settlement, you will find out that he doesn’t even hold any insurance policy at all. All they say is hearsay from what they have heard from one place or the other,” he said.
Ebete affirmed that an insurance company that knows its onions, would not want to treat its customers badly by delaying claim settlements because of the stiff competition in the sector.
“Every insurer will not want to lose a customer to a competitor. One would, indeed, expect them to look for reasons to pay claims; not reasons why claims should not be paid and often times, many people parade themselves as brokers and when you dig deep, you will find out that they are quacks,” he said.
He added that the major reason people assume that insurance companies delay claim settlements intentionally is that when they have a loss, they just expect insurance companies to automatically compensate them without considering the type of policy they subscribed to or without proper investigation of what caused the loss on the part of the insured.
However, he stated that Section 70 of the Insurance Act 2003 requires that claims must be settled within 90 days after the insurance company accepted liability and issued its discharge voucher.
“If the company fails to pay within this period, the customer has the right to approach the National Insurance Commission, but any company that has its integrity to protect would not wait for that to happen,” he added.
Chief Executive Officer, Carrier Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr. Abiodun Ogunleye, said, “Many people are just ignorant of specified terms of service, which ensure that all parties involved are informed of their responsibilities and the penalties that may occur from breaking these agreements.
That made it practically impossible for insurance companies not to pay or delay settlement of claims.
Other factors responsible for delay of claims, according to Ogunleye, are lack of confirmation of coverage, which is based on the terms of the insurance policy; incomplete documentation, and premium not fully paid. But when both parties figure such issues, he said payment should be made after the insured signs the discharge voucher, which indicates that a claim has been settled amicably between the insurer and the insured.
