No fewer than 8.6 million vehicles out of about 12 million vehicles plying Nigerian roads are either uninsured or have fake insurance certificates, LEADERSHIP has learnt.
This means only about 3.4 million vehicles registered in the country are genuinely insured.
The 3.4 million vehicles have all been registered on the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database(NIID) by their respective insurers.
Investigation shows that some of these 8.6million vehicles parade fake motor insurance papers, while some did not have any insurance coverage even as few who had genuine insurance papers before have failed to renew when their previous motor insurance cover expired.
The Federal Roads Safety Corps(FRSC) Act demands that any automobile on Nigerian roads must have at least third party motor insurance policy or comprehensive insurance coverage which goes for 10 per cent of the value of a vehicle.
Third Party Vehicle Insurance comes at a fixed price of N5, 000 for privately used saloons and SUVs, while commercially used vehicles are charged N7, 500.
To this end, insurance industry is losing about N46 billion to non-insurance of these vehicles, assuming the 8.6 million vehicles purchase third party motor insurance, which is the minimum cover to have before driving a vehicle on Nigerian roads.
Investigation revealed that most drivers go for fake insurance because it is cheap as well as to avoid the wrath of the law enforcement agents, as they have little or no knowledge of the benefits of buying original insurance cover. Other uninsured motorists, it was learnt, prefer to bribe their way out with law enforcement agents should in case they meet them on the roads.
Speaking on this development at a media briefing organised by the Nigerian Insurers Association(NIA) in Lagos yesterday, the chairman, NIA, Mr. Ganiyu Musa, said, as at the end of January, 2022, the number of insured vehicles in Nigeria was 3.4 million, stating that, these vehicles were those whose insurance policies were still up to date.
He enjoined other motorists to procure, at least N5,000 third party motor insurance policy as this guarantee them up to N1million Sum Assured in case of any eventuality to the third party vehicle.
He promised that insurance operators will always pay genuine claims just as the industry has improved over time in the area of claims payment.
Speaking on the #EndSARS claims, Musa stated that insurance companies have paid over N11billion claims to the insured who suffered losses from the protest in 2020.
“The association will continue to emphasise the need for insurance companies to pay all genuine insurance claims and will not hesitate to sanction erring member companies,” he pointed out