The Insurance Consumers Association of Nigeria (INSCAN) has called on the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to reverse its directive on the increase of third Party Motor Insurance Premium in Nigeria.This is contained in a letter signed by its National Coordinator, Chief Yemi Soladoye, and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAICOM had recently issued a policy directive on the increase of third party motor insurance premium in Nigeria by 200 per cent.
“We hereby write with respect to your Circular No.: NAICOM /DPR/CIR.46/2022 dated Dec. 22, 2022, increasing the third party motor insurance premium in Nigeria by 200-400 per cent for different categories of motor vehicles.
“And by implication, giving only one week notice to the insuring public of Nigeria to comply.
“We demand the reversal of the directive as it amounts to deliberate breach of the Fundamental Principle of Utmost Good Faith and other decent regulatory principles that guide insurance practice,” it said.
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The association said NAICOM failed to understand the full implications of its directive, saying those at the receiving end were insurance consumers who provided the accrued income to the entire Insurance Industry.
The INSCAN said that NAICOM’s reliance on the comparison of what was paid as premium in other parts of the world as basis for premium increment burden on Nigerians was tantamount to daylight robbery on consumers.
“Although, you threatened to sanction your Insurance Operators that fail to comply with your directive come Jan. 1, yet, the truth is that operators and NAICOM will benefit from the windfall accrued from the directive.
“The insurance consumers are, in the real sense of it, the ones being sanctioned,” it said.
It said the almost 20 million Motor Insurance Consumers in Nigeria deserved more than a week notice for compliance, describing the duration as a great insult to the collective intelligence of Nigerians.
The association said it had read over 500 public comments by Nigerians on the directive, saying the reputation slowly built for the Nigeria Insurance Industry was being eroded by the series of condemnations.
“How much has your commission paid out to victims and customers of Proscribed Insurance Companies over the past 20 years as required under Sec. 78 of the Insurance Act 2003 to justify astronomical increase in Premium amount?
“Where is the report of an ad hoc committee required to be set up under Sec. 52 of the Insurance Act 2003, stating the imperative of increasing Insurance Premium by a whooping 200 per cent?
“We also know that the referred Sec. 52 of that Insurance Law does not confer arbitrary powers on you because Insurance is a business affected by Public Policy and otherwise it becomes legalised robbery,” it said. NAN
