Bola Adegbaju
“The game has changed”.
This was an assurance from the new Commissioner for Insurance Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas to the industry players and consumers, in his address during the NAICOM/FITC Webinar on the 5th May 2020.
He also stated that as part of his strategies to make the industry better, all outstanding claims will be looked into, as well as to ensure a good data base for the insurance industry, while he encouraged brokers and underwriters to collaborate.
The insurance webinar organized by National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and Financial Institutions Training centre (FITC) was internationally represented by four (4) continents consisting of eight (8) countries from Africa and nine (9) from other countries with a total of over 1000 participants.
Representing the insurance industry Nigeria were speakers led by Sunday Thomas- Commissioner for Insurance, NAICOM and Ganiyu Musa –Chief Executive Officer Cornerstone Insurance Plc., Rashidat Adebisi -Executive Director AXA Mansard, Eddie Efekoha -CEO Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc & Chairman Nigerian Insurance Association, Sola Tinubu -CEO SCIB Insurance Brokers & past President Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers(NCRIB).
The keynote speaker, Ganiyu Musa in his presentation, analysed the impact of COVID 19 on the insurance sector as well as the possible suggestions to meet their obligations to the consumers. According to him, some possible areas of improvement in insurance services to consumers are:
- Speed
- Technology
- Innovation
- New products development especially for logistics companies and internet service providers.
The only female speaker, Rashidat Adebisi emphasized on the operators focusing on adding value and not pricing. She further stated that insurers must go beyond the norm and think out of the box and advised them to:
- Look beyond insurance and develop an ecosystem
- Embed themselves in customer’s journey.
- Harness the power of data
- Move from “detect and repair” to “predict and prevent”.
- Improve workforce
Sola Tinubu opined that the insurance services must be value-driven as he added from the insurance brokers’ point of view, the need to:
- Increase transparency and empathy in claims settlement• Use automated support for claims from notification to settlement.
- Develop high quality customer service both at the underwriting and claims level.
- Develop new products that will address emerging risks
- Be concise in policy wordings
Mr. Eddie Efekoha the moderator of the webinar who is wearing a double cap as the CEO of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc. and the Chairman o f Nigerian insurers Association (NIA-the umbrella body of all licenced insurance companies in Nigeria), in rounding up stated that, “the Nigerian Insurance Industry is set to delight the consumers” and truly “ the game has changed”.
However, the technical expertise put together to make the insurance webinar a great success by the host (FITC) headed by Chizor Malize, is highly a commendable one and the operators look forward to more from the organisers.
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