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  • Business - Companies
  • Updated: December 10, 2022

NAICOM Rolls Out Revised Guidelines On Bancassurance

NAICOM Rolls Out Revised Guidelines On Bancassurance

On Friday, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) rolled out revised guidelines on Bancassurance.

The Chairman Media Subcommittee of the Insurance Industry Committee (IIC), Jide Orimolade, said this at a news briefing at the end of the 13th IIC meeting in Lagos.

According to Orimolade, who is also Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stanbic IBTC Insurance, the new guidelines would allow insurance companies partner with many banks, rather than dealing with only one bank at a time.

“This would disable exclusivity, which is also in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulation that prescribes that a commercial bank cannot propose the product of only the insurance company they were partnering with to a consumer.

“Banks are expected to also present products of other insurance companies as well,” he said.

He said the new guidelines are laudable and would ensure fair play by operators in the insurance market.

He further disclosed that work is in progress to review the share capital of the micro insurance segment in terms of market development as proposed by an IIC subcommittee.

He noted that the regulator, through the Commissioner for Insurance who doubles as the Chairman of IIC, also charged CEOs of insurance companies on prompt claims payment.

He stated that Sanlam Insurance, the lead underwriter for the COVID-19 insurance covers for health workers, had settled all pending claims, which is a positive development for the industry.

“In terms of claims that have been paid so far, it has gone to show that we have the muscle to pay claims and on time too.

“There will be renewed activities in terms of claims payment and the commission will be involved in monitoring the activities and performance,” he said.

Speaking on the proposed increment of the premium for the third party motor insurance policy, the subcommittee chairman explained that there are processes for increasing rate.

He said the process for the revised premium rate for the third party motor insurance policy had reached a point of approval by the Governing Board of NAICOM.

Orimolade stated that following the board’s assent, the draft approval would be forwarded to the Minister of Finance for concurrence.

“Until then, the proposed amount for the policy cannot be disclosed because the minister cannot be preempted,” he added.

On the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS -17), Orimolade noted that insurance companies are expected to prepare their financial statements in compliance with the IFRS -17 from January 1, 2023.

He said while there could be issues to address, the insurance companies are ready for the IFRS-17.

The subcommittee chairman, speaking on NAICOM portal, stated that the regulator adjudged that about 90 per cent of insurance companies had complied with turning out their reports on the portal.

On annuity, he said NAICOM charged operators to see the opportunity in annuity business, being a growing product in the insurance market.

Orimolade said the regulator would present the report of its assessment of the performance of insurance companies on Risk Based Supervision (RBS) before the end of the month.

Assessing the industry for the outgoing year, Rasaq Salami, the Head Corporate Affairs and Market Development, NAICOM, noted that the industry had not done badly, as there had been lots of positive activities within the industry.

“Lots of indices are looking upward for the industry this year, which is very encouraging because of a number of factors, such as the IIC meeting.

“The IIC is a meeting point for regulator and operators to resolve issues and also come up with common processes and objectives on what should be done.

“This has helped in improving the performance of the industry and gradually reducing friction between the regulator and the operators.

"We hope that the situation will be maintained in the coming years,“ he said.

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