NIC to solve insurance claim problems
The National Insurance Commission (NIC) has advised people who have problems with the payment of claims from insurance firms to contact it for assistance. According to the Commission, it is prepared to ensure that the insurance companies make prompt payment of the full amount due to such people.
The NIC has the mandate to oversee the activities of insurance companies to ensure that they operate within the confines of the law.
The Director of Legal Services of the commission, Mrs Emma A. Ocran, made the call at a one-day sensitisation seminar on insurance in Koforidua.
The workshop, which was organised by the commission and attended by over 60 participants, comprised representatives of drivers’ unions, ministries and departments and the police in the Eastern Region, was to educate them on the need to insure their property and themselves.
According to Mrs Ocran, the difficulties in getting insurance claims paid by companies had compelled affected persons to resort to the services of legal practitioners.
She said that process, apart from its long delays, also left a chunk of the money with the lawyers engaged for that purpose and advised claimants to contact her outfit for assistance.
Mrs Ocran further said the commission had set up a motor accident compensation fund to cater for the needs of motor accident victims, who through no fault of theirs, could not be compensated by insurance companies, and asked such unfortunate persons to also contact the NIC for assistance.
The Area Manager of NIC in charge of the Eastern and parts of the Volta regions, Mr Nick Ampofo, took the participants through the various forms of insurance such as education, health, mortgage, retirement, businesses, especially those who deal in merchandise and death.
The Eastern Regional Manager of the Road Safety Commission, Mr Kwasi Tibo Yirenkyi, whose presentation focused on motor accidents, said the region had taken the third place in motor accidents after the Ashanti and the Greater Accra regions.
He said in view of that the commission had started a number of educational campaigns at lorry parks, communities, churches and mosques, adding that such an initiative was helping to reduce the spate of motor accidents.
For his part, the new Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of Police, Chief Superintendent Samuel Tetteh, educated the gathering on police investigations of motor accidents for the payment of insurance claims.
Story by A. Kofoya-Tetteh, Koforidua
