ARIAN blames fake agents for insurance woes

ARIAN blames fake agents for insurance woes

KAYODE ADELOWOKAN

National President, Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN), Kingsley Obuvie, has ascribed the continual downfall and low level of insurance culture in Nigeria to the presence of unregistered agents employed by insurance companies.

Obuvie, during a media chat with Daily Newswatch in his Lagos office, said that insurance operators are yet to see how agency can help the industry develop and grow to the level of international standards.

He stated that though there are about 34 thousand insurance agents operating in Nigeria, only five thousand are licensed. He explained: “The enormous problem facing insurance in Nigeria is mainly because of the unregistered agents in the market. We have many agents who are not trained but operating in the market selling insurance. If the public can ask for a broker’s licence before any deal is struck, then the public should always ask for an agent’s licence before they do any business with them.

“We have approached National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on this and it will be in the best interest of the industry if NAICOM can include it in the rule that before any individual or company deal with any person, not minding which company is involved, he or she should ask for the agent’s licence before any talk. The truth of the matter is that the challenges we are having in the industry today is because of these unregistered agents”, he said.

The ARIAN president mentioned that insurance outfits in Nigeria are doing well but they lack manpower, adding that the industry itself has realised that agency is needed to help boost insurance success.

He further said that Nigerians are yet to see agency as a career business and a lot of people don’t want to come into it because it is strictly on commission basis. “Agents are only living on commission earned from the field and the some of the products available are not customer friendly. Looking at the Nigerian economy, an average Nigerians does not see insurance has a priority, if not that motor insurance is made compulsory, there wouldn’t have been anyone buying insurance in the country” he stated.

“Though some companies have actually seen agency as a way to grow their business, they have embraced it and given it some level of support. But insurance companies in the country are yet to see the core value of licensed insurance agents,” the ARIAN president reiterated.

Obuvie also lamented that the industry itself has not given agency the recognition it deserves, yet “brokers are everywhere because the industry has really given them the support which makes it easier for them to gain more ground,” he said.

He therefore called on the industry to embrace the agency and give it necessary support so as to reach out to every Nigerians at all levels.

“If the industry should say let us do business with agency, let us embrace it and see how we can grow the agency business, then, some of the problems we are facing will be a thing of the past and the insurance industry will be a lot better than what we have had before. You can imagine having 49 insurance companies and all of them decide to deal with agency as they are dealing with brokers, I am sure things will be a lot better now,” he advised.

On insurance awareness, he said this is another problem which has impeded the growth of the industry. According to Obuvie, “Insurance awareness is too low in Nigeria, it will be a lot better if the industry can look for a better platform to inform Nigerians at least, compared to what the banks are doing: creating awareness. Before now, how many of us really know about banking; they have to move like a crusade and the awareness was made to be where it is now. The insurance industry in Nigeria needs to wake up and leave the comfort zone of conservative rather create awareness. It is not a thing of one person; it must be a massive movement”.