Government agencies, insurers to recover N45bn from counterfeit operators

The federal government has revealed plans to work with the insurance industry to recover about N45 billion lost to fake insurance operators nationwide.
Particularly emphasis is on Third Party Motor Insurance Policy that has been a major challenge to the industry where 90 per cent of insurance papers registered at licensing offices across Nigeria are fake.
To this end, the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), has concluded arrangement to harmonise its portal with the insurance industry to track about N8.5million registered vehicles with fake Third Party Motor insurance policies or without insurance paper at all in a bid to compel these motorists to get genuine insurance cover.
It was gathered that such collaboration will also be extended to comprehensive motor insurance, where the industry is said to be losing about N10billion yearly, and will be instrumental in the recovery of stolen vehicles in the country, thus reducing the spate of car theft.
Third Party Vehicle Insurance comes at a fixed price of N5,000 for privately used saloons and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), while commercially used vehicles are charged N7,500.
Investigation revealed that the FRSC is currently pushing a bill that is now ready to undergo second reading at the National Assembly.
The bill, which prescribes heavy punitive measure against car owners without the needed particulars, including insurance paper, also stipulates a six-month jail term for offenders or heavy monetary fine or both in a bid to maintain law and order on Nigerian roads.
This, according to a source in the industry, will lead to the enforcement of Third Party Motor Insurance as well as comprehensive Motor Insurance.
The partnership will entail the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), supporting FRSC to carry out enforcement of this insurance, especially on the federal roads in the country.
Before now, fake insurers have been prevalent, with over eight million fake third party motor insurance papers sold to unsuspecting motorists across Nigeria, thereby depriving both the government and the industry a huge sum from expected premium income.
The FRSC data revealed that there are 12.5 million registered vehicles plying Nigerian roads, with only four million of these vehicles having genuine insurance, translating to 33.2 per cent of the total registered vehicles in the country.
Further investigation revealed that most of the motorists carrying fake insurance papers obtain them at some vehicle licensing offices, under the Vehicle Inspection Offices (VIO).
Confirming the development, the Corp Marshal of FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, said most of the vehicles registered in Lagos carry fake insurance papers.
He regretted that the incidence of fake insurance papers at the licensing offices nationwide are on the rise just as the volume of cars on the roads are on the increase yearly, which is supposed to generate more revenue for the insurance industry through the purchase of insurance, but the reverse is the case.
He advised that obtaining insurance must not be from the vehicle licencing office, as about 90 per cent of insurance certificates being sold there are fake. “Quacks must be eliminated from the insurance industry through the efforts of NIA and NAICOM,” he stressed.

 

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