Industry’s N30bn loss from transport sector – Operators

The nation’s insurance sector has been awash with series of losses arising from defiance to laws, poor business structures and the inability of the regulators and stakeholders to enforce rules.
Again, the industry lost premium income estimated at N30 billion in 2017, to the articulated haulage vehicles- trailers and tankers, a segment of the transport industry that should have enhanced underwriting business and the economy at large.
But sector operators said the development thrived under operations that are below the standards by stakeholders, poor risk cultures and policy inconsistency.
The major operational hitches, according to the operators, include the poor state of most trucks in the fleet of the transport companies; lack of government policy, particularly on roadworthiness; poor state of road infrastructure; and non-adherence to standards of operational safety by the transport companies.
Stakeholders in the industry believed that non-availability of strategic plan or government-led initiative for mobilising long-term fund from the insurance industry to address the issue of re-fleeting the companies are responsible for the poor performance of the sector.
Most trucks on Nigerian roads do not have valid insurance cover despite daily road accidents that continue to destroy property and lives, as evidenced by the recent incidence at Otedola Bridge, along Redeem/Ibadan expressway.
An industry analyst who preferred anonymity, said: “All vehicles plying Nigerian roads, by law, must have insurance cover.
However, most articulated vehicles don’t carry any insurance because many of them are uninsurable.” The analyst stressed that to be insurable, all articulated vehicles must be in good shape; have two drivers as obtainable in developed countries and both must be experienced drivers.

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