NIA pushes adherence to industry’s ethics

NIA pushes adherence to industry’s ethics

Chuks Udo Okonta

The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has reviewed the industry’s market agreement to make it enforceable the Director-General Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Sunday Thomas, has said.

Thomas told Inspen that the NIA organised a retreat with operators to seek ways of making the initiative works. He said the agreement is poised to enable operators comply with stipulated rules in the course of undertaking their operations.

He said: “The issue of market agreement is not just about rates, but about service delivery. People would have misconstrued market agreement to mean rates. They have actually taken market agreement to be synonymous with rates cutting. It is beyond that, a lot of things are meant to be achieved appropriate rating of risks in the insurance market.

“I can say the market agreement is working. We have had interventions on issues that relates to the market agreement. We had understanding on the perception of our members, hence we had a retreat and the focus of the retreat essentially is to review the agreement and make it more workable. That is exactly what we have done. So far, members are respecting the agreement, we have not had serious complains as we had prior the retreat.”

He said the NIA has spelt out measures of disciplining errant members, adding that has the constitutional power to expel members who portray the image of the association in bad light.

“We have a disciplinary committee among members who discipline errant members. Some members have been suspended and on serious cases some members have been expelled. Ours is a voluntary association not set-up by government. If the way and manner a member conducts his affairs is not consistence with the belief of the association, the association has the right to excuse the fellow. If the association sees that what you are doing is not helping the interest of the association, they would ask you to move, which is part of the constitution of the association,” he added.