Commissioner for Insur
ance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Mohammed Kari says unlicensed insurance operators increase burden on regulators.
Kari told  newsmen Sunday  in Abuja that when insurance operators were not licensed, they were not recognised as entities with the regulator; hence, it became a problem to regulate their activities.
“ Unlicensed operators increase the burden of regulators because you spend time on companies whom you should not spend time on.
“ These unlicensed operators take people’s money when they want and they cannot be regulated, we have no avenue of really regulating them because they are not in our books as registered entity,’’ he said.
Kari said the measure by the commission to announce the 108 delisted insurance brokers was to inform the public that those organisations were not licensed to operate in the market.
“What we have done is just to tell the public that these organisations are not licensed, don’t do business with them,’’ he said.
Kari explained that the 108 delisted companies had the opportunity to renew their licenses and operate in the market but failed to do so, adding that they did not have an excuse.
“ More than a year ago, we worked on a list of about 180 of them that their licenses elapsed which they went everywhere to petition it.
“ Our Board and the Presidency asked us to give them soft landing which we did and that is what you refer to as re-licensing.
“ That option is not available anymore, we gave them up to three months to come up and take a new license in the old name so that they can maintain their clientele.
“ Although some of them took up the opportunity, majority of them who are on this list did not and the offer expired on Dec. 31, 2014,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that it was a criminal offence to operate without a license and if those companies had been operating without a license, they should not accuse NAICOM of delisting them.
He said “ the law says after 90 days of the expiry of your license it elapses, and once it elapses you do not have the right to operate’’.
He said it was unprofessional for operators to allow their license to expire and urged investors to be concerned with a management that allowed their professional license to elapse without renewing it.
On the argument of creating unemployment to Nigerians, Kari said it had no basis as the staff of those companies could work individually as agents.
He said the agents could also come together to become an agency and still operate in the market.
The commissioner said that NAICOM was making efforts to ensure that operators maintained good corporate governance.