Insurers move to capture12 million uninsured vehicles
The Nigerian insurance industry has empowered the Lagos State Vehicle Inspection Service with hand-held devices to monitor vehicle insurance compliance in the state.
This is part of the efforts by the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) to enforce motor third party policy and eradicate the country of the prevalence of fake insurance certificates.
Gus Wiggle, chairman, NIA who made the presentation of a 100 pieces of the device to the permanent secretary ministry of transport in Alausa said out of 16 million vehicles on Nigerian roads only 4 million have insurance, while the rest 12 million are uninsured.
Wiggle said this is a major problem that does not only result in wastage of national resources, but also exposes citizens to greater risks of loss and sometimes death.
The NIA boos noted that Lagos State is important in this campaign because a larger number of the vehicles numbering about 10 million were registered in Lagos.
According to him, the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID), an initiative of the NIA has made it possible to capture all insured vehicles in Nigeria, calling on the support of the ministry of transport and the law enforcement agents in the state to help the insurance industry in the fight against fake motor policies in Nigeria.
Sewedo Oluseyi Whenu, permanent secretary, Ministry of Transport who received the device in company of the Lagos VIO officials said it’s a welcome development in line with government’s effort to ensure discipline and safety in our environment.
He said the device would compliment already in-use devices by the Lagos VIO to ensure that vehicles that operate on the roads have adequate insurance so that in the event of accident there will be compensation for victims.
“What we want is a safe environment for all the citizens. We want to assure you that we will make judicious use of the facility to ensure that we achieve a safer and protected transport system in the state, Whenu said.
Abdulhafis Toriola, director Vehicle Inspection Service said the partnership was long expected and happy that it eventually came to pass.
The NIA had made similar presentations to Ogun State and the Federal Capital territory Abuja.
This development which is already closing the doors for fake insurance certificate, boosting insurance industry revenue and also giving better protection to the insured and third parties has been largely commended.
The industry’s database project which was conceived in 2010, to help develop robust information on insured vehicles, was launch on June 26, 2012.
The project according to NIA would eradicate fake insurances and minimise instances of fraudulent claims provide real time information that would address issues raised by all stakeholders: insuring public, market players, law enforcement agents and regulators. Serve as source of historical data for analysis and benchmarking, thereby providing qualitative analysis of industry performance.
It is believed that the initiative will enhance transparency and accountability to its stakeholders thereby restoring confidence in the insuring public, creates the basis for scientific management of operations in the industry and enable the tracking of transactions in the industry.
Modestus Anaesoronye