The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu has highlighted several professional and comprehensive strategies to deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria.
According to him, the insurance sector has a lot of potentials provided the practitioners are willing to explore the opportunities inherent.
Elumelu revealed this in his keynote address at the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) 60th anniversary held in Lagos.
The theme of the Anniversary was: ‘60 Years of Insurance Broking: Redefining the Practice and the Practitioners.’
Elumelu explained that though members of NCRIB have, over the years, facilitated insurance businesses in hundreds of billions of naira, delighted millions of Nigerians with their professional insurance services, and ensured that claims are duly settled, yet, NCRIB still has a lot to offer to its members and the Nigerian insurance industry as a whole.
Going forward, the philanthropist recommended a minimum of N50 million as a capital base for the industry and harps on the need to recapitalise the nation’s brokerage industry, saying that N5 million is not enough capital base for an industry.
“Not least in these testing times, our people need financial security, secure savings and protection against uncertainty. Our industry needs to offer simple, smart products, that give value and deliver. We need an industry that is professional and can catalyse investment in key sectors such as power, infrastructure and housing”.
“There is always room for improvement. We must strive to achieve the highest levels of professionalism and dedication to delivering excellent service to the public who rely on us to provide them with comfort
“In the area of Governance, we as an industry need to enforce strict adherence to corporate governance by all NCRIB members.
“The need for the body to weed out non-registered and non-compliant members from its fold. These are the ones tarnishing the image of the broking profession and the industry at large. An insurance broker must be professional at all times,” he emphasized.
“The insurance broker is a professional. He represents the interests of insurance consumers and provides them with expert advice, guidance, and support on insurance matters.
“In redefining the practice and practitioners in the broking profession, NCRIB should lead the war against many of the unethical practices that have been the bane of the industry for years Elumelu advised.
According to him, the unethical practice include; premium rate cutting, delayed premium remittance, unremitted premium, overloading of premium, returned premium, fake documents, fraudulent claims, collusion to defraud, mis-selling, unhealthy competition, misrepresentations, manipulation of policy conditions, self-enrichment methods disguised as marketing expenses, and many more.
“While NAICOM continues to play its role as the industry regulator, NCRIB as a body must ensure that appropriate sanctions are imposed on any of its members found using unethical practices,” he said.
Speaking further, he said the Know Your Customer (KYC) process that had been adopted in the banking sector could be applied in the insurance sector in order to accelerate the adoption of insurance.
“To remain relevant in the modern business arena, the insurance broker community and by extension, the entire Nigerian insurance industry must embrace technology fully.
“We have the banking sector that is being regulated and they do their KYC on customers with BVN and so many things and then the insurance sector also goes through that same KYC.“Why don’t we collaborate in a way that once a client who is a customer of a bank and can be verified, then we take it that the KYC has been done and then we leapfrog that immediately to serve the customer?
“That is a collaborative action we would need to put in place to change our sector.”
According to Elumelu, the insurance sector plays a pivotal role in any society and provides much-needed safety and security. “With insurance, families receive financial security, assets are protected against hazards, and businesses continue to run with the assurance of financial compensation in the event of a loss.
“In a nutshell, insurance keeps families and their possessions intact, provides financial safeguards for businesses, creates employment, and generally advances the economy.
“An economy is therefore as advanced as its insurance sector. We need to ask ourselves if we are doing enough because our industry’s contribution to national GDP is tiny, our reputation could be better, our practices more professional, and our promises to our customers are always honored.
“Indeed, a well-regulated industry is a benefit not just for the beneficiary broker but the trusted and necessary confidence of the customers,” he added.
While emphasising the commitment of Heirs Holdings to the insurance industry, he said: “Our two insurance companies, Heirs Life Assurance and Heirs Insurance Limited, are both leading democratisation of access to insurance – which is a tool for financial inclusion, employment creation, poverty eradication and female advancement. In a country of two hundred million, we can, should and must be more relevant than we are today. I am an optimist, not a pessimist. I know that times are tough, but together we can, and we will transform our industry, create value, and provide solutions that demonstrate the value of insurance to our people.”
