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90% of motor insurance certificates possessed by motorists are fake – Police

By BusinessNews Staff on July 3, 2015

The police in Lagos have said the geometric increase in the cases of insurance fraud across the country is now a source of worry to the command and stake holders in insurance industry.
The police pointed at third party motor insurance policy as the worst hit in this regard saying that 90 per cent of third party motor insurance certificates presented to police on demand by motorists at checkpoints are fake.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Sabo Police Division , Yaba, Mary Ubangha, a Superintendent of Police (SP), who made this observation, said the insurance industry losses huge amount of money on daily basis on insurance fraud perpetrated by touts in various motor licensing and registration offices across the country.
Ubangha who spoke as a special guest at the members evening of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) held in Lagos said the fraud is increasing on daily basis, adding that the police is embarrassed at names of non existing insurance firms it sees on the fake certificates presented by motorists at checkpoints.
She said true position of these fake certificates comes out when there is accident and the parties involved are asked to show their insurance certificates.
According to her, it is at this point that the authenticity or not of the certificates come out adding that ordinarily, vehicle owners are not supposed to exchange blows when accidents occur on the road as we see on Nigerian roads rather they should present their insurance certificates and the insurance companies involved will immediately take over the repairs of the vehicles involved.
She said in some cases, vehicle users don’t have insurance at all whereas the law provides that no body should drive any vehicle in Nigeria without insurance cover.
She urged insurance industry operators to put on their thinking caps and provide solution to the fraud problem.
She attributed the problem to impatience among Nigerians adding that Nigerians are always in a hurry as such would prefer to pay more than the official rate of N5000 for genuine insurance certificate to a tout at a licensing office to obtain fake insurance certificate rather than going to an existing insurance firm.
She said government can help by making law against fake insurance certificate buying and selling to discourage people from perpetrating the act.
The problem of fraud in insurance industry is fast becoming a topical issue.

[ThisDay]

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