ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Premium Hits N10bn

The Nigerian insurance in

dustry earned about N10bn as premium income from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Brown Card scheme in 2013.

Mrs Henrietta Anyanna, Secretary-General, Nigerian National Bureau of ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme, disclosed this through a statement issued by the scheme.

Under the insurance scheme, member states undertake to provide compensation for damages to properties and body injuries or death arising from the use of motor vehicles within the sub-region.

The properties corvered under the ECOWAS Brown Card scheme are buildings and belongings of third party accident victims.

According to Anyanna, the 2013 premium income as at Dec. 8, 2013 showed significant increase to N10 million against the N3.5 million recorded in 2010.

“Other member states have recorded significant rise in premium income figures also. ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance is cash and carry business.

“The huge outstanding premium of about N24 billion recorded in other classes of business does not exist under the Brown Card Scheme.

“Usually, our written premium is the actual figure collected,” she said.

Anyanna said that the Brown Card scheme gave motorists, plying the sub region, the peace of mind as the financial risks of using insured vehicles had become the responsibility of insurance companies.

She said that the Brown Card scheme had relieved customers of the burden of paying for damages to victims of accidents in a foreign country.

The secretary general said the scheme had also enhanced national productivity and boost overall economic development in the sub-region.

She said that the Brown Card scheme had facilitated movement of motorists across the West African sub-region and served as an important source of long- term finance for the private and public sectors.

According to her, the ECOWAS Brown Card scheme is patterned after the International Insurance Schemes in developed and emerging economies.

She said that the scheme’s common system for insurance claims settlement had helped to harmonise laws and regulations governing motor insurance in member states.

The ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme is a third party liability cover.