Insurers boost market expansion on back of EndSARS, Covid-19 pandemic

 There are strong indications that the ugly incident of #EndSARS protest of year 2020 which resulted in massive destruction of lives and property may have acted as a turning point for insurance business in Nigeria as more Nigerians and businesses are said to have included insurance policies in their calculations.

It was gathered that consequent upon the capacity and willingness of insurance companies to settle claims which arose from the incident, many people have seen the need to embrace insurance.

 The Commissioner for Insurance/Chief Executive, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Sunday Thomas who confirmed the turn of events said that there has been marginal increase in the uptake of insurance policies in the aftermath of EndSARS protest as well as post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Thomas said the aftermath of the pandemic and the EndSars had led to remarkable patronage in both the retail and annuity components adding that recently released industry statistics had shown some growth in the sector.

Determined to build on the development to push further insurance penetration in the country, the commissioner for insurance said that NAICOM will continue to monitor insurance companies in the area of claims payment saying that the commission will soon start rating companies based on their claims payment capabilities.

 Mr Thomas who spoke at a recent retreat organized for financial journalists in the country in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State with theme: “Improving Insurance Access through Market Development and Innovation in 2022 and Beyond,” he said the activities of a few insurance companies which reneged in claims settlement is jeopardizing the efforts of the majority who is in compliance.

He said, “Claims payment has always been one aspect the industry is battling to balance. We all agree that we cannot claim ignorance of the fact that the industry is paying huge claims out there even though activities of few amongst the operators is jeopardising the efforts of the majority.”

Noting that defaults in claims payment had always being a thorny issue that put the entire industry on the edge, he said a consensus had been reached to commence ranking companies on the number of claims received and settled on annual basis.

He said, “We intend to publish such ranking for the insurance consumers.”

He said the sector recorded positive increase in almost all parameters and remains one of the fastest growing sectors in activities.

He also disclosed that the commission would soon unveil its regulatory sandbox to give room for innovative expansion of insurance reach out adding that the web aggregators’ guideline released recently is also aimed at opening access to insurance and creating a convenient market for the sector.

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