Official statistics shows that over 85 percent of insurance documents held by motorists in Nigeria are fake, having been obtained from touts at licensing offices.
Genuine insurance Cover is obtainable from only the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) registered and licensed insurance companies spread all over the country.
“If you do not buy from any of the 42 general business insurance companies registered and licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), it is possible that you buy a fake document in the name of insurance. So, vehicle licensing offices are not insurance companies’ office and touts are there with fake documents to sell to you and this denies you the right to make claims when there is liability, said an insurance expert.
It is a common practice for most ‘bosses’ and vehicle owners to send their driver or mechanics to buy their motor insurance when it is time for renewal. Immediately, they rush to a nearby vehicle licensing office and in five minutes they are back with an assumed policy document.
Watch it, they may have bought a fake insurance paper for you, meaning that one: you have no insurance protection should an accident happen; two: you are having an illegal document, which puts you at risk of imprisonment; three: you can be embarrassed by security agencies monitoring compliance on the roads and four, you will have to pay from your pocket to repair or pay cost of damages when you hit other motorist or road users.
Therefore, take your time to walk into any of the insurance companies’ offices and get your genuine motor third party insurance, and get you compensation for third party damages in the event of accident.
How much is genuine motor third party insurance
Motor Third Party Insurance for private vehicles is N5, 000.000 and so that one they have been selling to you at N1, 000.00 or anything less than N5, 000 is fake…so, don’t buy.
The benefit of having a third party insurance policy is huge because it protects against third party damage. This means that in the event of an accident occurring, the policy holder has a third party property damage limit up to N1 million and no limit to life the in case of death or permanent disability.
This is somebody’s experience. A businessman had gone to an Auto Registration Office in his locality to obtain a third party motor insurance at the cost of N1000.00 and each day he gets to police check point; he gets clearance from the police and passes.
While he was going to work one morning he lost control and hit another vehicle, but confident that he had an insurance policy he assured the owner of the damaged vehicle that his insurance will pick the bill. There at the moment, the Police drove in and asked that he gets across to his insurance company and when he called; he discovered that the insurance company whose name is on the document is not aware of the cover. There and then, the Police took him up for holding a fake document and the owner of the damaged vehicle also held him until he had to borrow from family and colleagues to pay.
This is the experience of most people who have got insurance from licensing offices and motor parks. Why not advice yourself today by going to any of the registered Insurance Companies office and obtain a genuine insurance cover.
How to verifying your motor insurance cover
Except you want to be deceived or you want some people to feed fat on your ignorance, you have got no reason to pay for fake documents in the name of motor third party insurance.
So, now if your policy document is not captured in the Nigerian Insurance Industry Data base (NIID), then that policy document you have as motor third party insurance certificate is fake and worth nothing.
You can actually verify it yourself, right from any where you are. This has not only brought a check to fake documents, it has now empowered you to make claims on all third party liabilities.
How do you verify the document? Simply apply this code into your GSM handset, and in seconds the status of your insurance is displayed on your screen. (SMS: policy number*plate number to 33125).This is compliant with all networks.
If the resultant message says, “not available on NIID date base, then know that what you are parading as insurance is fake. But if it’s there, it tells you immediately the name in which your vehicle is registered; the make and model of the vehicle; the colour of the vehicle; name of the insurance company and date of expiration of the policy.
“Verifying the authenticity of your vehicle insurance policy on the NIID gives you peace of mind and assurance that your claim will be paid”, Sunday Thomas, director general, Nigerian Insurers Association stated.
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