To effectively play its role in the Nation’s insurance sector, the loss-adjusting arm of the industry has called on the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to intervene in its over 30 years old scale of fees.
The body under the auspices of the Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN) says the continued use of this outdated scale of fees threaten its existence and survival of its members.
Diipo Olanrewaju, president of ILAN made the call when the new leadership of NAICOM led by Segun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance and his team paid a working visit to the secretariat of ILAN in Lagos.
Olanrewaju said “We have approached our principals, that is the underwriters and brokers to let them reason with us for a review, but nothing significant has emerged because we have not received anything concrete, only promises, he said.
He said, if the issue is not addressed soon it might lead to the extinction of the loss-adjusting arm.
According to him, the sector is losing its skilled workforce to other arms of the business because they cannot pay to keep them and the non-review of the scale of fees and sundry issues like delay in paying loss adjusters fees even after the claim has been paid, puts the loss adjusters at risk of extinction.
Other issues of concern he noted are Charter Status of ILAN, which Olanrewaju said has suffered delay due to forces beyond their control, and therefore called on NAICOM to lend their voice when the issue comes to the table again.
He also emphasised the need for continued training of ILAN members, stating that this will enable them compete effectively with her foreign counterparts. “We need training because the industry believes we should upgrade to match international players, he said.
Omosehin responding after the welcome remarks by ILAN President said it was important that before him and his team settle for day-to-day affairs of the commission, it was necessary that they engage all segments of the market.
He said it was necessary to carry every arm along in the vision to make public confidence in insurance the hallmark of the market operations.
“In building confidence in the Nigerian public, it means claims settlement is critical. It involves the turnaround time it takes to pay; and even the efficiency involved in that entire value chain”…
Omosehin said, “It therefore becomes critical that for us as a regulator we would get input from you in putting our vision together. We don’t want to assume that we know it all. We want to hear from you.”
“In crafting the strategy that will drive the current new executive it’s important that we have this one on one, to listen to your views, perspectives, insights and possibly give us top three priorities which from our perspective as key to seeing a virile insurance sector. To become a sector that can really de-risk this economy. In doing this, it behoves on all of us across the entire sector to play our part.