The National Cooperative Insurance Society of Nigeria ( NCIS ) says the motor vehicle third party insurance certificate issued to its members through the USSD portal and other online platforms of the organisation are genuine and authentic.
The society made the clarification on Wednesday in Abuja during a World Press Conference to set the record straight and clear any misgivings from any quarter just as it asked members of the public to go about their normal businesses using their certificates issued by the organisation.
Addressing the stakeholders the Director of the Society, Mr. Adetokunbo Adesanya urged members to disregard the misconceptions that except a motor third party insurance from a particular platform is not valid.
He said NCIS is a Cooperative organisation that has the sole responsibility to issue cooperative certificates to their members and is not subject to regulation from any other organisation other than the Federal Department of Cooperative Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
He urged members to avail themselves of their various platforms such USSD portal, goggle search and other portals to confirm and verify the authenticity of their certificates just as he asked them to inform the security agencies who are also the stakeholders that NCIS has a portal where certificates can be verified.
Adetokunbo said NCIS is a federal government agency charged with the responsibility of coordinating the activities of cooperative insurance in the country and it derives the authority to practice cooperative insurance from the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act, 1994.
According to him “ We are a creation of the federal department of the cooperative, federal ministry of agriculture and food security. We were licensed and empowered to transact varieties of insurance services and products.
“ The first one is one of the reasons why we are here is the cooperative motor vehicle insurance cover, in it we have the liability section and own damage section. The liability section is made complete by law and that is called the motor vehicle third party insurance, that is the liability. Motor vehicle third party insurance as we all know is the liable section of our own motor vehicle liability insurance cover.
“ Our members who have insurance have certificate to show for compliance with liability section of it which is motor vehicle that is known to all of us and to say that our certificates in the area of motor third party is valid and members are enjoined to go about their businesses provided they have a valid third party cooperative insurance certificate in their possession and every valid insurance certificate issued by NCIS can be confirmed on our USSD portal and other online platforms.
“ So our motor third party insurance could be confirmed on our USSD portal and other social media platforms”
Adetokunbo while highlighting other services provided by the society which includes; comprehensive accidents and health insurance authority, group accident and health insurance cover, mortgage insurance scheme among others.
He said no cooperative insurance organisation is permitted to do mortgage without getting NCIS cover because that is the first point of call when it comes to insurance for cooperative society in Nigeria.
He explained that NCIS is an humanitarian insurance cannot be compared with commercial insurance practitioners who are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission( CAC ) and licensed by the National Insurance Commission.
Also speaking at the event the Corps Commander Adetunji Oki from Motor Vehicle Administration Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the Corps is supporting the NCIS because it promotes the use of third party motor insurance adding that the idea is to eliminate the conflict that alway arise from the scene of accident.
“ If we all have a valid insurance policy is just a matter of exchange our policy and go our various ways and that is why in FRSC we ensure that all insurance companies must operate an insurance policy that valid so that when there is a need to get back to insurance company then in insurance company will be there for them” Oki said.
NCIS is the apex cooperative insurance body in Nigeria and is created pursuant to the Nigerian Cooperative Societies Act , 1994 and Regulated by the Federal Department of of Cooperative ( FCD ) Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
It has a mandate to insure cooperative and its dependents and its fundamental objectives is to drive inclusivity, robust and enhanced participation of stakeholders and consequently provision of insurance services for members are administered and managed as well as members.