Don’t Patronise Ghost Insurance Firms, Expert Warns Vehicle Owners

A safety and security consultant, Dr Nseobong Akpabio, has warned vehicle owners against patronising ghost and unverifiable insurance companies for their Third-Party Motor Insurance Policy.

Akpabio, a retired deputy Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), gave the warning on Monday in Enugu while speaking on why insurance policy is compulsory for every vehicle plying the road.

He advised vehicle owners to do due diligence of tracing offices of insurance companies, their location and ensure that they are registered with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

He noted that there are a lot of ghost and unregistered insurance companies with lots of agents parading the streets and even going to corporate organisations and bodies to announce themselves.

“Be careful and personally trace any insurance company you are dealing with to authenticate their address/location; who is their staff and ensure that they are currently registered with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

“If you fall into the wrong hands, there will be no insurance company or NAICOM to run to in affecting your third-party accident claim. So, be careful,” he warned.

Akpabio, who is the pioneer Commandant of FRSC Command and Staff College, Udi, said that the benefits of obtaining a Third-Party Insurance Policy from a genuine insurance company outweighs any other excuse given against it.

He stressed that Third-party Insurance had become necessary since most vehicle owners and even companies cannot avoid a Comprehensive Insurance Cover for their vehicle(s), which is relatively expensive.

He said, “The Third-party Insurance policy is a global policy, it is just not a Nigerian government policy.

“It allows third-party involvement in a crash, while using a vehicle, to get compensated.

“This means that any passenger or road user can get compensated for injuries, treatment of wounds and even death after a crash or accident occurs.

“What the insurance companies do is to aggregate the large pool of money collected from several third-party policy holders; and compensate few that might get involved in accidents’ since most vehicles do not get involved in accidents.”