The President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr. Ayodapo Shoderu, has warned some underwriters to desist from the illegal act of adding brokerage to their business portfolio.
He said this when he led a delegation of the NCRIB on a courtesy visit to the office of the Commissioner for Insurance in Abuja.
Shoderu said, “Let me bring to the fore again the illegal acts being perpetrated by some underwriters, who wholly own or have substantial interest in insurance brokerage firms.
“It is regrettable that in spite of the position of the law on this, many underwriters still flagrantly disobey the law to the detriment of the industry.
“Since the matter is a legal or regulatory one, NAICOM could direct greater attention to the issue for a better adherence to the overall benefit of our practice.”
While commending the commission for ensuring strict compliance of insurance brokers with high ethical and regulatory standards in the industry, he appealed to NAICOM to always warn errant members before any severe penalty is introduced.
He said the NCRIB strongly advocated that such companies could be given a maximum of two warnings before being penalised.
The NCRIB boss also appealed for a review of the regime of fines imposed on brokers, considering that at least 80 per cent of them are still young and a heavy penalty might drive them completely into extinction, a situation that may be counter-productive to growth efforts pioneered by NAICOM in the industry.
He also appreciated the roles of NAICOM in ensuring sanity in the brokerage subsector through the harmonisation of the provisions of the law regarding NCRIB registration and NAICOM licensing.
He appealed that this collaboration should continue for the benefit of the insured and the overall growth of the industry.
“The day is gone when unscrupulous brokers hide under either of the two bodies and by so doing, misleading the insuring public. On the part of my team, I pledge to do all within our powers to ensure maximum cooperation with NAICOM and to ensure that no charlatan breaks the ranks of insurance brokerage anymore,” Shoderu said.
