NIC to have central database for authenticating insurance policies

As part of measures to deal with the problem of fake insurance certificates, the National Insurance Commission (NIC) is to roll out a central database system where all policies issued by insurance companies would reflect to ensure easy verification.

“We are going to have a system whereby it will be easy for the police to simply send a vehicle’s licence number to a short code for confirmation with respect to insurance,’’ the Commissioner of the NIC, Mr Justice Ofori, announced at the close of a one-week training workshop for 105 officers of the Motor Traffic and Transport Directorate (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in Koforidua last Saturday.

He added that the system would also enable customers to confirm the authenticity of the insurance policies they purchased.

Training

The training, which was offered by the NIC, formed part of efforts to strengthen the commission’s partnership with the police to let them appreciate the importance of insurance and the need for the two institutions to collaborate to keep the roads safe.

During the one-week training programme, participants were taken through police ethics, intelligence gathering, integrity, professionalism, techniques in road traffic management, handling of equipment to control or enforce road traffic laws, stress management and handling of psychological issues, among others.

A section of the participants

Presentations were also made by resource persons from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), as well as the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC).
Mr Ofori said the enforcement of compulsory insurance compliance required the backing of the police because insurance companies could not do so by themselves and pointed out that without the police, there would be many vehicles with fake insurance certificates on the road.

Confidence building

He called on insurance companies to build confidence in the market by making sure they paid claims on time to win the confidence of the public.

Mr Ofori said the NIC, as part of measures to revive the fortunes of insurance companies and build public confidence in the insurance industry, had collaborated with the Ghana Insurance Quality to run training for stakeholders in the industry, such as trade associations, the TUC, market women and driver unions, so that they could appreciate the need for insurance.

He said by next year the NIC would have trained at least 5,000 senior high school and university leavers across the country who would be certified to become agents and be readily available for insurance companies to employ.

Superintendent of Police Mr Adu Boahen of the MTTD Headquarters said the one-week training was geared towards achieving the vision of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of making the Ghana Police Service one of the best on the continent and in the world.

He said in line with the IGP’s transformational agenda, efforts were being made to make the Police Service deliver to the standard of international best practice.