The Insurance Act 2003 made compulsory the insurance of Buildings Under Construction and Occupiers Liability for public buildings , with the objective to protect third parties for damage or loss of life that may arise in the course of construction or making use of the facility.
With an expanded consultation with stakeholders across governments both at the federal and state levels , building regulatory authorities, security agencies and operators in the building value chain, the insurance industry led by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is seeking collaboration that will enable enforcement of the policies for compliance.
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This is reinforced with a two day insurance conference held Monday and Tuesday in Abuja with the theme: “Redefining Safety – Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings and Buildings under Construction”, which targets to strengthen collaboration with relevant government and non-government agencies and other stakeholders for enforcement.
With initial visit to the Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa by the leadership of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) led by Sunday Olorundare Thomas ahead of the Conference and expected participation of the presidency, this is believed will be the last bullet that will kick-start the effective enforcement of building insurance in Ngeroa.
Having also engaged with many of the state governors as well Thomas, hoped that these risks will be domiciled in the states and some results would begin to come going forward.
Chika Onwunali, principal consultant, Premium Debate said, this conference for me should set the stage for enforcement and if it does not, then, we may just be creating news and news without result on building insurances.
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“What I expect is policy decision by government that will enable this enforcement because that is only want the insurance industry needs to put the sector on scale for growth”, he said.
Its implementation is expected to drive premium growth in the insurance industry in their trillions of naira and position the industry for higher performance, against the current premium income size of N726 billion at the of 2022 financial year.
According to NAICOM, the successful implementation of compulsory classes of insurance across the nation will ensure adequate protection of strategic national assets.
Dangiwa had assured his collaboration in the area of enforcement of the laws on public buildings and buildings under construction, hence his full participation at the conference.
Thomas said in his welcome remark at the Conference held Monday that the theme “Redefining Safety – Insurance Solutions for Public Buildings and Buildings under Construction” is only one out of numerous efforts of the Commission at creating the needed awareness of the general public of compulsory insurances.
“It has also created the platform to strengthen collaboration with relevant government and non-government agencies and other stakeholders. This is being done to ensure that enforcement of all classes of compulsory insurances across the country are out carried effectively. “
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The different compulsory insurance in Nigeria includes Motor Third party Insurance of section 68 of the Insurance Act 2003; Buildings under construction of section 64 of the Insurance Act 2003; Occupiers liability insurance of section 65 of the Insurance Act 2003; Group life Insurance in line with the Pension Reform Act 2004 and Health Care Professional Indemnity Insurance-under section 45 of the NHIS Act 1999.
