The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) is taken credit for an initiative it has with the Lagos State Government on the automatic plate recognition which is driving embrace of third party motor insurance policy without the Association soliciting for it.
The Chairman NIA Olusegun Omosehin, said the trade initiative which is one of the several the Association has rolled out is driving penetration on its own scale and firming up the need for insurance cover that is mandatory.
He emphasised that the Lagos State initiative is very important to the industry as it enforces cover purchase after the vehicle owner has paid the penalty of N20,000.00 for not having a third party. “That is enough to compel people to insure. The platform is encouraging people to insure.
The state with data reckoning saw an exit through which insurance industry was loosing premium income on the mandatory third party motor insurance and rolled out a N20,000.00 penalty for failing to adhere to mandatory N15,000.00 third party motor insurance. It has now become a cash cow and a revenue well for the state.
Explaining further how the initiative works Omosehin said, “We actually opened our platform to Lagos State Government to have a handshake with our platform. They pull data from our platform to assist in enforcement; what they are doing is to the advantage of the industry.”
The NIA Chairman while briefing the media at the maiden event said, “As an Association we have opened that platform to Lagos State and we are actually encouraging other States to do likewise. As we speak we have a collaboration with Federal Road Safety Corps. That was a follow up to the visit we made and a pledge to work with us as an assistance in the issuance of proof of ownership such that our platform becomes a ready source of data for them.”
The NIA Chairman said the Association will continue to bring up those areas relevant that are relevant and helpful to the industry development. He holds that if enforcement continues people will do what is right, though it may take a while.
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