Communicate more with your insurance services providers

It is often said that insurance agents, insurance brokers or insurers communicate, or rather make contact, with their clients (policyholders) once in a year when payment of premium needs to be made. This was in the past! Yes? No? What are you saying? Today, there exist too many channels or touch points by which insurance players can COMMUNICATE with their existing and potential policyholders. Understanding communication to mean a two-way messaging activity, it has become necessary to discuss this subject matter with a view to making you see and appreciate why you should engage your insurance relationships. As we have come to learn, many of us have become used to just sending messages through various available channels and believing that we have communicated even when we don't hear from the other side. To make you accept the responsibility to communicate with your insurance relationships notwithstanding that they may not respond or acknowledge your message, let us consider, firstly, how they engage and communicate:

They await/approach you to offer their products and services;
They handle/manage your instructions between themselves (Agents/Brokers and Insurers);
They transmit transaction details (scope of coverage, duration and premium payable as well as KYC form) for your commitment; and
They sign and deliver your Policy Document or Contract based on payment of premium previously made by you.

Deal closed! Next! You should engage your insurance relationships and communicate with them because:

You need to be certain that the coverage you have is valid and the contract you have is duly captured in the regulatory records.

For example, your Motor Insurance Certificate may be fake. Always visit www.askniid.org to verify that your Certificate is valid. Out of nearly 12 million registered vehicles, only 3.1 million have genuine coverage following a recent report by Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA).

You have to be certain that your insurers are continuously financially strong and ready to settle claims when they are reported.

Monitor and confirm that they have been paying claims rather than wait until you have yours. Engage and communicate with your insurers through your insurance brokers and agents. Follow the news too and when you hear something, do not think it is nothing.

You have to be certain that the Terms and Conditions (T & C) of your policy or contract are not ambiguous.

Most times, it is when you have a claim that you'll know the quality of insurance you had. Remember, in the event of any claim, the determination of the situation will depend on the T & C of your policy. Do you know that you are allowed a Cooling Period of 30 days to reconsider your coverage and if you decide not to proceed with it, your premium should be refunded to you in full?

You have to be aware of changes within the insurance industry and the insurance relationships you have.

For example, many insurance companies have had new chief executive officers since the beginning of this year in compliance with the directive of the regulator, NAICOM that MDs and EDs who have spent 10 years and 12 years, respectively, should retire. Have you checked to appreciate the emerging effects of these changes? Making insurance work for us in Nigeria requires taking responsibility to extract the value we desire. Engage and communicate effectively with your insurance relationships today and beyond. Your questions and comments are most welcomed. I remain... Assuredly Yours,

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