'Honour Local Medical Insurance Covers'
Insurance
By Nnamdi Duru
Foreign embassies in Nigeria, particularly those of the 14 European nations, have been advised to honour travel medical insurance certificates issued by the 103 insurance companies licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to carry on insurance business in the country.
The advise was based on the fact that the least of these insurers with capital base of N150 million would not have difficulties paying medical claims just as it would be unfair for only one operator to be allowed to cover travel medical insurance business at the expense of others.
Foreign embassies in the country have been accused of not honouring travel medical insurance certificates issued by Nigerian underwriters for visa purposed thereby putting undue pressure on travellers to their respectively countries.
These embassies, particularly the 14 European nations popularly known as Shengel countries have been accused of honouring travel insurance certificates issued by only Unitrust Insurance Company Limited. They were also accused of aiding and abetting illegal insurance transactions in the country by honouring travel medical insurances procured from one Sarah Travels and Tours Limited, a company not licensed to carry on the business of insurance in the country in contravention of the Insurance Act 2003.
The Act provided that "no insurer shall commence insurance business unless the insurer is registed by the National Insurnace Commission under this Act" and that "no new product shall be introduced into any class or category of insurance business without the prior approval of the Commission".
The Managing Director of Consolidated Risks Insurers Limited (CRI) in an interview with newsman in Lagos advised foreign embassies in the country to stop such practices arguing that they have no insurable interest in the lives of Nigerian travellers and as such should allow them to chose their preferred insurers.
"They cannot have better interest for the passengers than themselves. Anyone that buys insurance primarily has that insurable interest in himself and that asset which he or she wants to insure. To that extent, the person knows that he is paying premium in return for possible claims in the vent of a loss in inured interest", he argued.
Efekoha then asked these foreign diplomats to put themselves in the shoes of managers of viable insurance firms in the country who have been by their action, subjected to the embarrassment of seeking for medical cover from their competitor just because the embassies have given the latter undue leverage over other insurers.
Efekoha therefore, advised these embassies to get an authenticated list of registered insurers from relevant bodies and honour travel medical insurance certificates issued by these underwriters.
"I will want to believe that every insurance company is qualified to write travel insurance for as long as that company has chosen to write it but what we find today is that just a company is mandated to write that out of the 103 insurance companies.
"I find that very strange, I rather expect that the embassies will have a list of all licensed insurance companies either as published by NAICOM or let them write NAICOM for an authenticated list of insurers", he said.
The CRI boss added that "for as long as travellers obtain travel insurance policies from these licensed companies, the embassies should accept them and not compel everybody to go to one underwriter in the market, ruling out the rest operators from that business".
He also allayed the fears of these embassies saying that local underwriters in the country with their capitalisation at a minimum of N150 million would not default in indemnifying travellers for medical expenses that may not exceed E30,000.
"I cannot understand how a company that is today N150 million or N200 million capitalised cannot pay for medical expenses in the event of a passenger falling ill during his visit outside the country. They will be able to pay any claims arising whether in Euro or Dollar or whatever currency", he assured.
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