THE ROLE OF NATIONAL INSURANCE COMMISSION TOWARDS INSURANCE PENETRATION TO THE GRASSROOT

THE ROLE OF NATIONAL INSURANCE COMMISSION TOWARDS INSURANCE PENETRATION TO THE GRASSROOT

CHAPTER ONE

1.0   INTRODUCTION

National Insurance Commission is a body that ensure is effective administration, supervision, regulation and control of insurance industries in Nigeria.

The national insurance Commission (NAICON) under the able watch of Mr. Fola Daniel is on top of the situation. The industry is poised to take advantage of serial despoliation and corruption enthroned every where in our economic landscape that poll into insignificance value that enables the society. The insurance consumer Association of Nigeria (INSCAN) and NGO ably led by rear Admiral Isaac Areola is protecting the insurance consumer in Nigeria against unfair practice from insurers.

Insurers should therefore enhance after. Sale service, such as prompt payment / settlement of claims as well as effective intermediation model. And also develop environmentally friendly products, based on market research and ensure an efficacious marketing that will speak to the customers in the grass root.

The bottom line for effective insurance coverage is a prompt payment of claims. Insurance operator should ensure that they take settlement of claim seriously for that will guarantee adequate penetration of insurance to grass root. The commissioner for insurance Fola Daniel sates that the easiest way to attract the public to patronize insurance is treating those who are already insured through prompt payment of claims. “If one tells his friend that his insurance company did not pay claim after his loss, that single complaint is capable of stopping more than 20 peoples from buying insurance in future” in his statement, he said that prompt payment of claim remain the best instrument. For insurance awareness and penetration expatiating on its utmost importance, that commissioner state that NACCOM will continue to ensure that operators live up to their claim responsibility adding that the commission had received 86 claims complaint out of which 52 valued at 1.2 billion have been resolved and 34 in court. He read the ‘riot act’ that the axe will be yielded on operators who consistently fail to settle discharged claim promptly by losing their license. Insurers had been mandated to administer claim. In accordance for that will enable those at grassroot to embrace insurance and in order to standardize insurance practice.

Moreover, the weak legal framework for the regulation and supervision of insurance industry in Nigeria has been attributed to the poor public perception of the sector; low level of awareness amongst the populace; high political economic and financial systemic risk; non remittance of accumulated premium and investment losses resulting from decline in insurance penetrations.

Furthermore, a lot of companies are being built in the urban area forgetting that many Nigerian are living in the rural area without having the knowledge of what insurance is all about and are eager to boy the policy if well explained.

According to Mr. Fola Daniel, he said that derive to penetrate insurance into the grassroot will see the insurance market growing in an accelerated rate of hitting 8:64% in the net four years. According to the commissioner of insurance, premium income will increase from N300 billion in 2012 to N1 trillion in 2017, motor insurance will increase by ten percent (10%), life insurance by three percent (3%)  and oil and gas by two and half percent 2 ½  % .