Only about 4.3 million of the vehicles plying Nigerian roads have valid insurance certificates, NIKE POPOOLA writes
Most motorists are endangering the lives
of other road users by driving vehicles on Nigerian roads without
appropriate insurance certificates, investigation has revealed.
Instead of procuring valid certificates
that would provide insurance cover and compensation for road users in
times of accident, a large number of the motorists buy cheap papers from
fraudsters in unauthorised areas.
However, operators in the insurance industry are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to end the fake certificate business
in the country.
in the country.
The Director-General, Nigerian Insurers
Association, Mr. Sunday Thomas, said the industry had continued to
record increase in the number of genuine insurance policies registered
in its Nigerian Insurance Industry Database.
“The vehicles on Nigerian roads are
estimated to be between 16 million and 17 million, but what we have
registered in our database is about 4.3 million vehicles,” he said.
Thomas also explained that out of these
4.3 million, it was possible that the insurance covers of some had
expired and had not been renewed.
He added that the association was trying
to separate the expired policies from the current ones so as to
determine the actual number of vehicles with genuine insurance.
Thomas explained that the NIID was
introduced to curb the proliferation of fake motor insurance papers,
provide information on the details of vehicles available on Nigerian
roads, as well as enhance the verification of certificates in owners’
possession.
According to him, a motorist can check
his motor insurance policy status by sending his vehicle details as an
SMS to a dedicated NIID number or through the database’s website.
As of October 2014, he noted that only
2.7 million vehicles had been registered in the NIID, which was an
improvement from a figure of about one million in the corresponding
period of 2013.
According to him, all registered
insurance companies operating in Nigeria subscribe to the NIID and they
regularly upload the details of vehicle covers that they handle onto the
database.
About seven years ago, the National
Insurance Commission, the regulator of the insurance sector, said 90 per
cent of vehicles on Nigerian roads had fake insurance papers. The industry commenced a joint effort to stem this tide by introducing the NIID soon after.
Before the official introduction of the
NIID, NAICOM collaborated with the Nigeria Police to raid offices and
areas notorious for the sale of fake insurance papers.
The association has continued to
distribute the NIID mobile devices to law enforcement agencies in
different states of the federation to enable them to confirm the
genuineness of insurance certificates in the possession of motorists.
Last year, the NIA presented some of the
devices to the Lagos State Ministry of Transport, and also promised to
facilitate a training programme for Vehicle Inspection Officers in the
state.
Section 68 of the Insurance Act, 2003
states, “No person shall use or cause or permit any other person to use a
motor vehicle on a road unless a liability, which he may thereby incur
in respect of damage to the property of third parties, is insured with
an insurer registered under this Act.”
The law states that the insurance shall
cover liability of not less than N1m and that a person who contravenes
the provisions of that section of the law commits an offence and will be
liable on conviction to a fine of N250,000 or imprisonment for one
year.
The Group Managing Director, Mutual
Benefits Assurance Plc, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, attributed the high rate of
fake motor insurance papers to inaccessibility of the companies.
“Go to the core North and even in some
places in the South West, how many insurance companies have branches
there? Go to some rural areas, what is the means of transport there? But
if you are not accessible and available, they will go for fake insurance papers,” he said.
Ogunbiyi observed that many Nigerians
with fake papers obtained them just to show to the police that they had
complied with the insurance requirements.
The Managing Director, Law Union &
Rock Insurance Plc, Mr. Jide Orimolade, attributed the patronage of the
cheap fake papers to low awareness of insurance.
“Awareness of the relevance of genuine insurance is low and enforcement is still a challenge, but it is improving now,” he said.
During a visit by the Association of
Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria to the office of the Zonal
Commanding Officer, Zone RS2, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos, the FRSC
said it would work with the insurers.
The Assistant Corps Marshal, FRSC,
Nseobong Akpabio, said the corps was working with the insurers to
enlighten Nigerians on the importance of genuine insurance policies.
“The role of insurance companies in
ensuring road safety is enormous; if more insurance companies can
partner the FRSC in creating awareness, drivers will be able to know
that they can get claims if they have cover and people are benefiting
from it and more drivers will insure,” he said.
Akpabio also observed that lots of motorists ignorantly took fake insurance certificates from non-existing companies.
The President, Nigerian Council of
Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr. Kayode Okunoren, said the industry
would continue to enlighten road users that taking fake insurance certificates was of no benefit to them.
“It is like throwing money down the drain; so, we will continue to increase awareness of it,” he said.
According to him, the circulation of fake insurance papers has been on for a long time and it will take some time for it to disappear completely.
Editor, Punch News
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