Ebere Nwoji

New Chairman of Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Mr Kunle Ahmed, has said that the  association during his tenure would end the era of  claims fraud and controversy over claims payment between the industry and insuring public by exploring  the possibility of digital collation and tracking of claims payment to delight customers and reduce insurance fraud.

Ahmed stated this during his inaugural speech as the 26th chairman of NIA.

He said the theme of his regime as chairman of all insurance underwriting firms centered on “Digital Disruption & Social Insurance, Re-shaping of our Traditional Models,”  adding that the industry during his tenure would migrate from any form of traditional ways of doing business to modern way.

He noted that insurance companies only issue a promissory note after consummating a transaction,  explaining that the test of the promise happens only when a claim was reported.

He said in insurance industry today,  the issue was  no longer whether insurance companies pay claims or not, insisting that as at 2023, the industry paid N536.5 billion claims, a 54 per cent growth over the claims paid in 2022.

He said in spite the feat made on claims payment, there is still some work to be done because companies would be unable to maximise the budget on publicity and media campaigns without paying attention to the ease of making a claim and the improvement of the claim process.

“We will work with market stakeholders to self-regulate and enforce market best practices amongst members from the point of onboarding a client to claims payment. We must continually look for a reason to pay a claim, rather than look for a reason not to pay a claim,” he said.

According to him, his team would collaborate with all stakeholders, especially, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) to ensure the provision of full underwriting information. 

He noted that inadequate information and lack of clarity at the point of onboarding the client was a precursor for a conflict at the point of claim.

He said his tenure would ensure standardisation of pricing to the extent that each client would be charged the price that is commensurate with his risk. 

He explained that detailed information about a risk including the survey and the implementation of the survey recommendations could potentially attract a pricing that is fair to all.