NCRIB chides V.I.O over comment on role of insurance brokers

The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has described as untrue a story published by a national newspaper, credited to Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) on the roles of Insurance Brokers in the issuance of vehicle insurance policies.

A national newspaper reported on Monday that the Assistant Chief Vehicle Inspector Officer, Mrs. Adeshola Adeboshin alleged that Insurance Brokers connive with vehicle owners to evade insurance

In its reaction, the NCRIB describes the unfounded allegation by Mrs. Adeboshin as desperate efforts to malign the image of Insurance Brokers in Nigeria, stressing that the officer displayed crass ignorance of the workings of different insurance arms that make up the insurance industry.

The Council noted that Insurance Brokers are professional arm of Insurance Industry that acts as intermediaries between the insured public and insurance companies, stressing that it was Insurance companies that provide covers, and that certificates are usually issued in the name of their firms and not in the name of brokering firms.

The Council stressed that access to the Nigeria Insurance Industry Database (NIID), which Mrs. Adeboshin referred to in the story was strictly for Insurance Companies in the fold of the Nigerian Insurers Association, and not Brokers. So, no Broker would have uploaded any policy on the platform, not to mention fake or expired insurance policies as alleged by the Officer.

Suffice it to say that the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers cannot undermine the importance of relevant government agencies in the enforcement of insurance policies, especially, vehicle insurance policy. To further underscore this, the Council, at one of its programs invites Vehicle Inspection Officers as special guests to forge better collaboration between the two institutions.

“We expected that if such allegation exists at all, the officer should have used the avenue to address the Brokers rather than misleading the public about Brokers through the media. Nonetheless,   the Council is and would continue to support the NIID because it is the only central record of all insured vehicles in Nigeria”.