NIA begins distribution of motor insurance e-readers

Chuks Udo Okonta

The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has given 25 units of motor insurance electronic readers to Ogun State government, Inspen has learnt.

Its Head Corporate Affairs and Human Resources, Davis Iyasere, in a telephone interview, said the units were given to the State's Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) in Abeokuta, adding that discussings are also going on with the Lagos State Government.

He said: "We have given 25 units of the phones to the Ogun State Government, through the VIO, the distribution is according to demand. If they need more, we would give them. The 25 is just for them to start with Abeokuta metropolis."

He noted that the association decided to start with Abeokuta, because historically, insurance in the country is traceable to the city, adding that the state also is one of the states to first indicate interest in the project.

"We are discussing with the Lagos state government, we have had meeting with the Commissioner for Transportation and we are also working out ways to reach other states," he said.

He said insurance companies have continued to upload their data to the database, adding that much success has been recorded.

The industry’s database project which was conceived in 2010, to help develop robust information on insured vehicles, was launch on June 26, 2012. The NIA AT the launch promised to deploy over 500000 electronic card readers to security agencies to verify genuine vehicle insurance licences.

The project according to NIA would eradicate fake insurances and minimise instances of fraudulent claims provide real time information that would address issues raised by all stakeholders: insuring public, market players, law enforcement agents and regulators. Serve as source of historical data for analysis and benchmarking, thereby providing qualitative analysis of industry performance.

It is believed that the initiative will enhance transparency and accountability to its stakeholders thereby restoring confidence in the insuring public, creates the basis for scientific management of operations in the industry and it will enable the tracking of transactions in the industry.