Daniel Tasks Insurers on Enforcement of Compulsory Insurance

Fola Daniel, commissioner for insurance has called on insurance companies to change their poor attitude to the implementation of compulsory insurances, warning that, if not well pursued, the realisation of the industry premium growth may not be well driven. He gave this charge at a recent meeting with the council members of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA).
Daniel urged them to contribute to deepening insurance penetration, by making sure that they are committed to the enforcement of the compulsory insurance, especially against the backdrop of meeting the N1.10 projected premium, which he said could met and by the end of his year.
The commissioner decried the negative attitude of insurance companies to the swift enforcement of the initiative, going by the fact that there is no good representation to meet the inspection visits of NAICOM officials.
Daniel added that ‘Even the representatives of insurers in attendance at such forums did not have the required documents to market to people who were ready to take up the necessary insurances on the spot.’
The NAICOM boss reiterated that enforcement of the compulsory insurances is one of the commission’s initiatives aimed at developing the market for a sustainable market growth. It would be recalled the enforcement exercise, embarked upon by the commission started in November last year at Ibadan, the Oyo state capital and later extended to Ilorin, the Kwara state capital. Currently, they are in Enugu state.
The enforcement team comprises of the Nigeria Police, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Insurance Consumers’ Association of Nigeria (ISCAN), and the Fire Service, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), and will be extended to the six geo-political zones
Mr.Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, chairman of the NIA, while acknowledging the contributions of NAICOM to the development of the industry, affirmed that ‘members of the association are in full support of the MDRI initiative.’ He added that the ‘industry is facing a lot of challenges that tends to drag our foot backward.’ He stressed that there was a high rate of turnover in the industry, because they cannot gainfully employ their trained agents, as most of them survive on commission basis.