Commuters pay insurance premium with no cover - Investigation

Commuters on a tour

Chuks Udo Okonta

Commuters in Nigeria now pay insurance ‘premium’ to transporters who have no policy to cover their journeys, investigations have revealed.

The fraud which is perpetuated by inter-state transporters, stemmed from lack of enforcement of insurance laws by security agencies and therefore, leaves the commuters at the mercy of the transporters who attach the ‘premium’ to the transportation fare.

The criminal act has become a big business for transporters who exploit commuters and leave them unprotected in times of risks.

At one of the motor parks in Lagos, it was observed that each commuter pays N50 premium to cover a journey within the South-West region of the country.

Investigation revealed that every transporter is supposed to sign in to travel insurance with an underwriting firm and procure a policy which is attached to the manifest for the journey. It was observed that most of the manifests were without attached policy, and commuters are asked to pay insurance charges.

One of the drivers questioned, told Inspen that the directives to collect the charge was issued by the company’s management and it cannot be revised at the bus terminal.

Another officer said the money is collected to make up for the charges paid at the bus terminals, adding that the company would have like to purchase the policy, but after deductions from expenses on fuel and other sundry issues, the company has to look for measures to make up for the short fall in revenue.

An underwriter, whose company is a major provider of travel insurance, said the company only sell to willing buyers and that claims are only paid to commuters with genuine cover.

He noted that the right to enforce compliance rests in the hands of security agencies, adding that the company can only persuade transporters to buy the cover to mitigate risks on the road.