NIMN boss to insurers: You are killing your industry

Koledoye

Chuks Udo Okonta

The President/Chairman of Council, National Institute of Marketing in Nigeria (NIMN) Abdul Koledoye, said insurance practitioners are the enemies of the industry as they are killing the sector by not living up to their ethics and promises.

He disclosed this at the Business Journal Insurance Summit in Lagos, adding that it is worrisome that the industry contributes less than one per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He called on insurers to seek knowledge, develop people friendly products and ensure that they live what they preach.

He noted that insurers’ reliance on the government to create compulsory products for them is an indication that they have failed to meet the needs of the people.

“It is said that the insurance industry is contributing just one per cent to the Gross Domestic Product. This is an industry which efforts and financial muscle is less than one billion pounds. What is really the problem? I have come to the conclusion that the insurance industry is the worst enemy of itself. This is because the operators pretend to be marketing products, yet they muddle everything together, without the knowledge of what marketing is.

“What insurance practitioners are doing is killing marketing. You are killing your industry. You make a promise, and do not fulfil the promise. You make excuses and expect people to come back. In marketing, when you have a customer, you will work to keep the customer for live.

“When marketers tell you that a product is N5 and that the value you are going to get from it is N5 that is what you are going to get exactly. But we will also give you options. It is only in insurance, that people talk about giving comprehensive cover. But when it is time to pay claims, it becomes subject of other negotiations. That is not marketing. What is termed comprehensive can be divided into five categories to give the consumers options.”

He said the structure on which insurance can thrive abound in the nation, stressing that it behoves the operators to do the needful, which will act as catalyst for their business.