Electronic motor insurance database in the offing

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) plans to implement the electronic motor insurance database by early 2019 to boost confidence in the insurance sector and curb fake motor insurance stickers in the system.

The electronic platform will contain all motor insurance policies in the country to give opportunity to the police, the public and relevant government agencies to have quick access to confirm the authenticity of such policies.
 
The Deputy Commissioner of the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Mr Kofi Andoh, made this known at the rebranding of Equity Assurance Ghana Limited to SUNU Assurance Ghana Limited in Accra last Thursday.

The SUNU Group is a foremost Pan-African Insurance Group with asset base of over $623 Million and operations in 14 African countries spanning West and Central Africa.

Insured vehicles

Mr Andoh said the database would make it easy for the police to ensure that all vehicles plying the roads were insured appropriately and for the passengers to verify whether the commercial vehicles were properly insured before boarding them.

“The Equity Assurance Limited started operations in Ghana 11 years ago and over the period it has recorded significant growth and has become one of the known brands in the non-life sector and has duly complied with the necessary requirement for the assumption of its new name SUNU Assurance company limited,” he said.

The Deputy Insurance Commissioner said the Ghanaian insurance industry had seen some significant growth over the past few years and as at the end of 2017 the industry recorded a total increased asset of GHC 5.4 billion from GHC1.8 billion as at 2013.

Penetration rate

He said total gross income also increased from GHC I billion in 2013 to GHC 2.4 billion and added that inspite of the gains so far made, the industry’s contribution to the nations GDP continuous to be woefully low.

“The NIC is, therefore, implementing a number of strategies to help grow the penetration rate and areas target for significant growth include marine and agricultural insurance,” he said.

Mr Andoh gave an assurance that the NIC would continue to monitor and enforce its claim payment guidelines to enable claimant and the general public to know what to expect when they filed their claims with the insurance company.

Sustainable programmes

She said the government of Ghana had positioned itself to come out with sustainable systems that would aggressively push the insurance sector in the country in particular and the entire continent as a whole.

Mrs Opare gave an assurance of the government’s commitment to provide the enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country.

For his part, the Board Chairman of Sunu Assurances Ghana Limited, Mr  Paa Kwesi Yankey, said it was worthy to note that the company had been operating for the 10 years during which it had grown to be among the first 10 insurance companies in the country in terms of gross premium income.

He said because claim payment was the end product of an insurance contract and was an acid test for a good insurance company, “I’m confident to say that our claim payment service delivery is excellent”.

Insurance companies

Mr Yankey said contrary to the general perception that insurance companies always found  reasons not to pay claims, the company had promptly pay genuine claims.

According to him, this year alone, they had paid a total gross claim of about GHC9.6million.

 “In our company, insurance contract really works. We deliver 100 per cent on our services most of the time.

This is why our clients are very happy with us and they keep coming back to do more business transactions with us.

This is one of the secrets behind our tremendous growth in the last ten years,” he said.

He said the name SUNU, which was being formalised, was not a new name, it had been with the company for the past two years before the management obtained the relevant regulatory approvals for the investments of the SUNU Group in the company.

SUNU Group

He said the word SUNU meant “Our Own” and it was taken from a language of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania and that signified that SUNU was a Ghanaian company, a company by Africans for the Africans and the name change was absolutely strategic.

Mr Yankey said SUNU was designed to align with the exemplary identity and brand of the majority stakeholder and the company’s new name reflected its Pan-African presence as a full-fledged member of the SUNU Group.