The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has called on insurance practitioners to be professionals to the core.

Mr. Fola Daniel, the commissioner for insurance (CFI) who made this assertion noted that insurers’ words must be their bonds.

On the Market Development and Research Initiative (MDRI) being pursued by NAICOM, Daniel stated that if insurance operators must propel the people to insure under the compulsory insurance programme, then underwriters must not under any guise fail to meet genuine claim settlement, rather their word must be their bond.

In his words, “The relevance of ethics and integrity to insurance business cannot be over emphasised. Where they exist, it breeds trusts, confidence and creates a boost in business generation.”

“The non-existence of these virtues amongst some practioners has helped in giving the industry a negative image. We cannot continue in this path any longer. There must be a change of attitude and behavior amongst practitioners. We cannot continue to do the same thing all the time and expect a different a different result.”

He noted that in all of these, operators must key in to discipline and professionalism as the Nigerian populace are looking up to insurance industry as an important bastion of security in the face of collapse being witnessed in other financial services sector, “we must not be a harbinger of corruption and improper dealings.”

“For those who will continue to relate as if anything and everything is possible, let me warn that Naicom will deal decisively with aberration and will also collaborate actively  with other regulatory and security agencies to curb market misbehaviour,” Daniel reiterated.

Naicom has warned that under the current reforms taking place in the insurance industry, it would no longer condone a situation where the managing director of an underwriting company has on the sideline a private broking firm as well as a loss adjusting firm.

“This is unethical and it should not be encouraged. There are cases of chief executive officer of an underwriting firm having a broking firm, giving businesses to the company where he is CEO, yet there are issues of outstanding premiums. This will soon be a thing of the past”.

Mr. Sunday Thomas, Naicom director, in charge of inspection who made this notion said in most cases, the success of the managing director’s privately owned companies depend largely on at least 80 per cent of his time and energy. He said this was clearly a case of conflict of interest and divided loyalty and it is unethical.

Henceforth, he said, any managing director that must own a broking firm or loss adjusting firm would be compelled to disclose this to the board of directors of the company where is CEO so that if there are issues of outstanding premiums arising from such broking firm, the board would be able to knew the source of their problem.

He said this is a major source of unethical practice and should therefore not be encouraged.

Other observed unethical practices, he said, include inadequate rating, withholding of premium/commission, claims falsification, deliberate creation of information gap between the management and board as well as falsification of returns to the regulator.

Mr. Thomas said, by the time the commission was through with the reform in the industry, all of these would belong to history books.

He said with nine months gone in the year, not up to half of insurance companies operating in the country have submitted their 2008 financial result to the commission. “This is because they find it convenient to pay the paltry fine of N5,000 per day for as long as the result is delayed,” he said.

Under the current reform, he revealed, the fine would be made very stiff. He said it could be as high as N100,00 per day and the deadline for filing the result could be made shorter. He, therefore, advised all operators to sit up so as not to be caught on the wrong side of the law.