Underwriter charges Nigerians to ask for claims from insurers

A leading underwriting firm, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, has urged Nigerians, particularly third party holders, to always ask for their claims from insurers whenever an insured risk occurs.

The Executive Director, Leadway Assurance, Adetola Adegbayi, who said this while addressing a group of journalists in Lagos , noted that most Nigerians who purchased insurance policies are ignorant of when and how to make claims.

He added that instead of going to their insurers to make claims, they decide to bear the financial burden themselves.

Realising that some people don’t demand for claims, she said, some over-ambitious operators cashed in on these loopholes, to rate-cut policies to unreasonable prices, with the assumption that the insured will not demand for compensation.

She said due to the low rate they demand, in most cases they outbid their competitors for businesses because their rates are lower, and consumers always want to go for policies with lower rates.

In the event of claims, she said, these overzealous underwriters default, since the premium charged is not the actual value of the policies sold.

To this end, Adegbayi argued that rate-cutting can be fought by Nigerians, if they begin to request for claims on their insurance policies, noting that when this happens, underwriters would sit up and charge the normal rates that can sustain them when claims arise.

Explaining that an insurance company would be heavily sanctioned if it defaulted in claims obligations, she charged Nigerians to report defaulting underwriters to the law enforcement agents, promising that necessary steps would be taken to pay claims to the aggrieved insured.

She said: “Policy pricing is becoming lower, and the lower your policy, the riskier your business becomes. But for the mass market products, as the volume increases, the price reduces.”

Explaining the benefits of one of Leadway micro insurance products she said the Hospital Cash Insurance Plan is activated in the event of hospitalisation of the insured person due to illness for a consecutive period of more than two days, while a daily benefit is payable up to a maximum of 20 days during the policy period.

In the event of hospitalisation arising out of accidental injury for a consecutive period of more than two days, a daily benefits is payable up to a maximum of 15 days during the policy period.

In this instance, she said, those under the Basic plan, and are hospitalised due to illness, will be getting N4,000 claims per day throughout the duration of their stay in the hospital provided it’s not more than 20 days.

Those under the Classic plan would be entitled to N7,500 per day, while those under the Plus plan would be entitled to N10,500 per day.