Insurance companies in Nigeria are repositioning themselves to reap from emerging business opportunities occasioned by predictions of torrential rains nationwide this year, BusinessDay investigations have shown.
The position of the insurance companies is reinforced by the recent loss of lives as well as property and assets worth billions of naira to rainstorms in Lagos and other parts of the country.
Industry practitioners, while sensitising the public on the dangers inherent in the failure to insure their property, have therefore called on Nigerians to prepare for the unforeseen by insuring their property and assets, warning that failure to take proactive measures could lead to huge economic losses.
“I think it’s important that people begin to devise means of protecting their acquired assets. One of the best options is insurance which enables you return to the position you were before the incident,” said Sunday Thomas, director-general, Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), adding that people should begin to make insurance part of their culture, not just because of rains or storms.
At this year’s Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Tunji Bello, Lagos State commissioner for the environment, had said that the rainy season for 2014 would last till between first week of October and fourth week of December in most parts of the country, while in Lagos the cessation date was predicted to be December 21, with a marginal error of three days.
According to the commissioner, using the 2014 SRP, this year’s rainfall pattern would be similar to that of last year, with the month of August, however, expected to be drier than August 2013.
“Lagos is expected to record 1960mm as total amount of rainfall. The strong winds, lightning and thunderstorms which were regular phenomena during the onset and cessation of rainfall were also predicted to occur in stronger magnitude during this year’s rainy period,” Bello said, observing that rainstorms would be common over the coastal areas with occasional flash floods and ocean surges which would greatly affect persons living along the flood plains.
He said it would therefore be necessary for residents to be prepared, noting that irrespective of the SRP, the ministry on its part was preparing for the worst, while praying that no disaster would visit the state.
Speaking further, Thomas urged property owners not to be discouraged by the premium they pay “because the cost of replacement is huge and not all victims of such disaster are able to come back without support of insurance companies”.
He said that Fire and Special Perils insurance could cover the insured against storms and rain destruction, adding that insurance companies were well-placed to advise clients on suitable policies.
Wole Adetimehin, managing director/CEO, Juli & Partners Insurance Brokers, said more than ever before, insurance companies were beginning to identify the need to provide cover against flood and other risks associated with rains.
According to him, this aspect of insurance, though now an extension of Fire and Special Perils and Owners-Occupier Liability, among other policies, assumed a bigger dimension in the last three years when flood and other related risks became popular in Nigeria, citing the flood crises in Ibadan, Lagos and many other parts of the country a few years ago.
Adetimehin, who is a former president of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), said the most unfortunate thing was that most people in Nigeria did not have any form of insurance policy.
“How many people in our environment have these insurance policies? So, there is nothing the insurance industry can do when people suffer out of their own negligence,” he said.
“If God has been benevolent to enable you get a roof over your head or acquire any of these properties, you should go the extra mile to protect it, because there is no amount of brother’s-keeper philosophy that would equate insurance. We will continue to educate and create the necessary awareness about the need for insurance, and government on its own should set example by insuring its own assets for the citizens to emulate. On our own as insurers, we shall ensure we meet our claims obligation when the need arises,” he added.
Modestus Anaesoronye & Joshua Bassey
