The Commissioner for Insurance
Heads of Insurance Institutions
National President of INSCAN
Distinguished guests
Permit me to appreciate the notable
roles which the Insurance Consumers Association has been playing since its
inauguration in Nigeria. As we are all aware, the insurance industry in Nigeria
has continued to be the butt of poor image and negative public perception, due
to insufficient knowledge and awareness about the pivotal roles of insurance to
the citizens’ well being, as well as its place in national economic
development.
From records, the idea of establishing
INSCAN emanated from the FSS 2020 Insurance Sector report which was later
accentuated by the NAICOMs MDRI Initiative towards growing the Nigerian
insurance industry. It is heart-warming that today, INSCAN is affiliated to the
Consumer Protection Council and incorporated as an NGO. What the Association is
doing today is a fulfilment of one of its cardinal mandates of assisting the
growth of the insurance industry in Nigeria through creation of public
enlightenment platforms for exchange of information between the insurance
operators and the industry’s strategic stakeholders. I stand here to vouch the
support of the NCRIB and the entire insurance brokers operating in the Nigerian
insurance market for INSCAN in fulfilling its set out objectives.
INSURANCE CONSUMERS BILL OF RIGHTS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
Before we make any further exposition
on the subject matter, it makes good sense to appreciate the fact that
consumers are the largest economic group in any country’s economy, affecting
and effected by almost every public and private economic decision. But they
were also the only important group who were usually not effectively organized
and whose views are hardly heard.
It is worthy of note that the concept
of Insurance Consumers Rights was derived from the global conception or focus
on Consumer Rights which was borne out of the restive agitation, particularly
in the US in mid – twentieth century, for increased rights and legal protection
against malicious business practices. By the end of the 1950s, legal product
liability had been established in which an aggrieved party need only prove
injury by use of a product, rather than bearing the burden of corporate
negligence. As a matter of fact, there could not have been a better caption for
the importance of consumer protection than in the words of President John
Kennedy in 1962 when moving the Bill of Consumer Rights in the US Congress.
According to him:
“if a consumer is offered inferior products,
if prices are exorbitant, if drugs are unsafe or worthless, if the consumer is
unable to choose on an informed basis, then his dollar is wasted, his health
and safety may be threatened, and national interest suffers”
THE NIGERIAN INSURANCE INDUSTRY
EXPERIENCE
As we are all aware, the Nigerian
insurance industry, being a microcosm of the larger Nigerian nation has little
or no place for consumer rights. In spite the fact that the insurance industry
could not succeed without the patronage of customers or consumers, the industry
of which underwriters and Brokers are critical players have carried on without
sufficient regards for the consumers rights for which they had not received
concomitant responsibilities. We must accept that operators flagrantly ignore
their responsibilities to insurance clients, especially if they are the small
ones. We have all forgotten the fact that insurance itself is a contract by
nature and it imposes certain duties on the providers of the services as well
as a commensurate exercise of rights and responsibilities on the part of the
clients. I do not wish to take you into details of insurance contract which
exemplifies all these.
To say this, however, is not to come
to terms with the fact that we, the operators, should realize the universal
expectation of consumers from producers of goods and services. I shall
highlight some of these rights below and briefly highlight how the insurance
industry should, or better put, must begin to key into them;
RIGHT TO BE INFORMED
Insurance consumers have rights to
sufficient information about the nature of risks and how they could maximize
their insurances. This right also provides them opportunity to make intelligent
and informed choices about insurance products they want to purchase. The idea
of supplying paucity of information on policy documents is antithetical to this
right. The onus should now rest on all operators henceforth to embark on
aggressive public awareness, both to inform current and potential buyers of
insurance and while doing that, make full disclosures about the insurance
products being sold
RIGHT TO QUALITY SERVICE
This implies that insurance consumers
must be availed the most quality value in exchange for their money. Insurance
companies and Brokers must continually create environments as well as procure
tools and acquire orientation that is geared towards rendition of quality
insurance services to clients. One cannot talk enough about the need for all
operators to be more ingenious in customer relations skills as well as
acquisition of modern IT tools that would enhance service delivery.
RIGHT TO BE HEARD
It is the right of every insurance
customer to be heard. This has actuated the need for insurance operators to
provide platforms of engagement and dialogue with clients on a regular basis.
The era should be past for good when insurance operators preoccupy themselves
with selling insurance, rather insurance should be bought. Every insurance
institutions should henceforth begin to see to it that they create suggestions
boxes and online feedback mechanisms for customers, to ventilate their views
about their insurance products and services.
RIGHT TO REDRESS
Insurance operators in Nigerian must
begin to come to terms with the fact that insurance consumers should have the
right to seek redress in the law courts or in established extra legal
institutions against unsatisfactory conduct of operators in the implementation
of the insurance contract.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Since the flip side of rights is
responsibility, the insurance consumers must begin to come to terms with the
fact that they are also obligated to
PAY CLAIMS BEFORE COMMENCEMENT OF AN
INSURANCE CONTRACT (As now underscored by the No Premium No Cover)
DISCLOSURE MATERIAL FACTS AT THE
COMMENCEMENT OF INSURANCE CONTRACT
CONCLUSION
It is my view that if the above rights
are recognized by insurance operators and the responsibilities on the part of
the clients are respected, the insurance industry in Nigeria will flourish as
well wrest itself from perennial image challenges that occasioned the low
public awareness and growth of the insurance industry in Nigeria.
Once again, I thank INSCAN for this
highly resourceful platform.
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