By Rosemary Iwunze  

Insurance consumers have rejected the new insurance policy which raised premium on third party motor, TPM, policy, describing it as self-serving and anti-consumer.

In a letter to the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, the Insurance Consumers Association of Nigeria, INSCAN, said the increase was hurriedly ordered without consideration of the economic situation of most Nigerians at the moment.

The letter titled, “Demand for Reversal of Your Policy Directive on the Increase of Third Party Motor Insurance Premium in Nigeria by 200% under One (1) Week Notice to the Nigeria Insurance Consumers” and signed by its National Coordinator, Chief Yemi Soladoye, INSCAN demanded that NAICOM reverse the increase pending proper consideration of the grey areas of the directive.

INSCAN said: “Your policy directive on TPM premium increase was not subjected to civilized trade practices, professionally-accepted insurance principles, transparent customer- oriented regulations and humane attention to the economic situation of most Nigerians at the moment before you hurriedly passed same.

“The Nigeria insurance consumers are further convinced that the motive behind your directive is self-serving, arrogant and detrimental to their interest which you are established to protect and therefore demand that you reverse same pending proper consideration of the grey areas of the directive.”

The letter added, “Our demand for the reversal of the directive is based on the following facts: – You failed to understand the full implications of your directive that the real organ you will punish is the Nigerian insurance consumers who provide the income that accrue to the entire insurance industry. Though, you threatened to sanction your insurance operators that may fail to comply with your directive come 1st January 2023, yet, the truth of the matter is that your operators and yourself will be the beneficiaries of the windfall that will accrue from the directive while the insurance consumers, are in the real sense of it, the ones being sanctioned. The almost 20 million motor insurance consumers in Nigeria deserve more than one (1) week notice from you. 

“To rely on the overbeaten lateral- thinking comparison of what they pay as premium in other parts of the world, as your basis to increase the premium burden on Nigerians will be tantamount to daylight robbery on the Nigerian insurance consumers by an Agency established to protect them without a corresponding comparison of the non-pecuniary benefits that accrue to the policyholders and the public at large in such insurance climes”.