The National Insurance Commission (NIC) has recorded over 78,000 newly insured vehicles as of February 17, since it implemented the Motor Insurance Database (MID).
The Commissioner of Insurance, Justice Yaw Ofori, disclosed this Monday, February 17, at a meeting with the Greater Accra Regional Executives of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the Trades Unions Congress (TUC), paid a courtesy call on the management of the NIC, the regulator of insurance entities in Ghana.
The MID was implemented on January 1, 2020, and is providing a centralised system from which security agencies and the general public including passengers of vehicles can check the validity of vehicle insurance instantaneously.
The checks can be done through the use of a mobile phone, receipt of acknowledgement of transaction via a text message or by scanning a QR code on the insurance sticker by the Police MTTD.
Moved by their excitement at the new development, the GPRTU leaders lauded the NIC for its bold initiative and thought it had been long overdue.
The delegation, led by its Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Nii Ankrah, nonetheless expressed their concerns regarding their assumption that the premium rates have been increased particularly those being charged on 2020 registered vehicles.
The Commissioner of Insurance on his part, explained that premiums had not been increased but because insurance companies are now complying and charging the rightly regulated premiums on particularly the 2020 registered vehicles through the database effective January 1, 2020. Mr Ofori bemoaned the situation when, in the past, some insurance companies were undervaluing vehicles and competed on prices rather than on service thus making it quite challenging for some of them to pay genuine claims promptly.
He, however, stated that with the MID, it is expected that insurance Companies will be in a better position to pay genuine claims promptly to the utmost protection of policyholders and innocent third parties.
Source: Fiilafmonline/JoyNews
