National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has called on operators to end the era of finding reasons not to pay genuine claims to policyholders.
Mr. Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, Commissioner for Insurance, disclosed this during an interactive session with insurance journalists, in Lagos, that “one key area we are focused on is how to restore public confidence in the insurance sector which is one of the cardinal objectives of the present administration and we are taking this seriously.
“In all of our stakeholders’ meetings, we prioritize it, we make it clear that restoring public confidence in insurance is a mandate of National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) that insurance companies must strive to prioritize.
“Therefore operators should move away from finding reasons for non-settlement of claims and instead find one reason for claims settlement.”
He said ” there is decline in public confidence in the sector which might not be unconnected with some of the underwriting entities’ inability to meet claims obligations, citing examples in newspaper of publications where some customers were unable to get their annuity paid in good time by some underwriting firms”.
“We try to manage these issues in order not to disappoint the public or at least reduce the incidents of insurance firms falling into this category,” adding that the reality of all this happening was that NAICOM is in view to getting out of this situation
Omosehin noted that as commissioner his responsibility is to serve the public good and defend the interest of the market which the policyholders are included. “I’m now on the side of the consumer and it is a priority over everything.
On his plans for the industry he said: ” the key thing the Commission did at his resumption of duty at the Commission was commenced work by looking internally at what is on the ground in relation to the entire market by holding meetings with the key stakeholders in the industry, including the NIA, in order to see how the Nigerian insurance market has moved over the past one year.”
