More insurance customers benefit as insurers move to settle claim liabilities

BusinessDay

NAICOM maintains September 31 deadlineInsurance customers that had their claims repudiated or in legal controversy for one reason or the other after a loss, are being settled as insurers clear outstanding liabilities ahead of September 31 deadline, given by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
BusinessDay investigations reveal that some insurers are currently moving around the country, presenting cheques and realigning with their customers.
One of the customers, who received a cheque, appreciated the commitment of NAICOM towards customer protection.
She said she had lost hope after her claim was repudiated for some reasons she said were insignificant.
NAICOM had in July given insurance companies September 31, 2015 deadline, to pay all outstanding claims in their books or face the wrath of the law.
From October 1, 2015, NAICOM shall evoke the full application of punitive sections of the Insurance Act, including but not limited to sections 8(I) m, 70(b) and 70(2) without further recourse, said the Commission in a circular titled “Claims Settlement and the Image of the Insurance Industry.”
According to the statement signed by Mohammed Kari, deputy commissioner for Insurance, technical, and sent to all insurance companies, the circular was in continued effort of the Commission to sanitise the industry.
“You would recall that the Commission collated claims details from all insurance companies and complaints on delayed and unsettled claims from members of the insuring public in its efforts to verify the persistent complaints of the consumers of insurance about an unsavoury attitude of the providers that has brought the image of the industry to disrepute.
“Our study of the records and complains received has confirmed the truth of this situation which, happily, is perpetrated only by a few, whose sad postures stains the efforts of the many,” the statement stated.
As of the end of the first half of 2015, the Commission through its complaint bureau successfully resolved 34 complaints arising from disputes over delayed or non-settlement of genuine insurance claims.
The monetary value of the resolved complaints paid to the various complainants is N539.76 million only.
The Bureau, according to the Commission, received a total of 147 complaints from policyholders, beneficiaries or their representatives during the period under review.
It would be recalled that the Complaint Bureau Unit of the Commission was established in line with extant laws to process and resolve complaints received from aggrieved insurance consumers and beneficiaries on all facets of insurance business in Nigeria.