NKECHI NAECHE- ESEZOBOR– The National Insurance Commission, (NAICOM), at the weekend frowned at the backlog of unpaid claims by insurance companies.
The chairman Publicity-Sub Committee, Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, disclosed this during a media briefing shortly after Insurers Committee Meeting held in Lagos, said the commission tasked the underwriting firms yet to settle their outstanding claims to do so within the shortest time possible.
“Initially the regulator had encouraged companies to publicised outstanding claims because of the lot of claims are reported but supporting documents are not provided and they remained as outstanding claims. In some of the insurance books they are provided for and those provisions have stayed for many years.
She added that “the regulator encouraged companies to advertise unpaid claims but the decision was for it to be done on the platform of NIA initially for the first three months actively to encourage people who have lodged claims to contact their insurance company. After three months we look at the impact of the advert in terms of what is outstanding and then companies can be mandated to do their advert individually.
On NAICOM’s portal she said “the regulator encouraged members to use the NAICOM portal for all forms of reporting not just for rendering returns but that all the returns and reports to the commission can be done on the portal.
“The commission also encouraged CEOs to visit the portal regularly to know if their companies are uploading the required information as directed by the commission within 24 hours. “
On ECOWAS Brown card she said that the committee resolved to harmonize the process by making sure that the same certificate is issued across all West African countries that issues brown cards.
