The Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission, Mr Sunday Thomas, has made a continental clarion call for immediate payment of claims, away from the traditional approach that is predominant in the continent.
Thomas made the remark at the ongoing African Insurance Organisation AIO Conference in Lagos, the 47th edition, where he charged the operators to chart a new cause in quick claims payment. He insisted that this is the way to go because of the unprecedented development made in the field of technology which by its deployment in the operations of insurance services guarantees efficiency and adds value to operations and this should include claims payment.
The CFI still upbeat on the advancement of technology said operators need not wait for 90 days or years to settle claims. With regulator overview of the goings on in delayed claims payment in Nigeria and similar experience in other African markets, Thomas used the event to advance a shift in attitude to early claims settlement driven by the speed of technology application.
In the stream of his reaction to the theme paper, Rebuilding Africa’s Economy: An Insurance Perspective, Thomas commented that building a future would require African operators and regulators alike to collaborate.
He also said that compliance based ticking of market operations is no longer a working tool in the current phase of market development across the continent, pointing out that the new direction is principle based and that is the current and future for the insurance industry.
