CIIN President tasks insurers on terrorism, kidnapping insurance

The President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Lady Isioma Chukwuma, has charged insurance companies in the country to create unique products that will cover terrorism and kidnapping risks.

Speaking at the CIIN’s 2016 Business Outlook in Lagos, Chukwuma, who is also the Managing Director of Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, said the worsening incidents of terrorism, kidnapping as well as the telling effects of climate change on lives and properties are throwing up new challenges for the insurance industry.

“I am aware of the isolated efforts of key players in our sector to addressing these emerging risks by organizing special seminars on terrorism insurance. We, however, should go beyond these isolated efforts and forge stronger bonds as an industry in tackling these new challenges,” she stressed.

She queried, “For instance, for how long are we going to exclude terrorism from our insurance contracts whereas the threats are now of increasing magnitude? No doubt the major constraint in this regard has been the paucity of underwriting data, so it remains a cause for concern and must be addressed without further delay.”

To address this challenge, she called on operators to partner with other international underwriters who are sufficiently familiar with and much more experienced in these areas.

The governing council of the institute, she said, remains poised at providing platforms for knowledge sharing and will continue to sharpen the skills of practitioners through quality educational/training opportunities.