How To Get A Genuine Policy On Car Insurance In Nigeria

Over the years, understanding the importance of car insurance policy has been a complicated one or better put, a hazy idea to most Nigerian motorists. This is mainly due to the activities of many fraudsters parading themselves as motor vehicle insurance companies. Another factor is that most motorists do not really understand how these policies work, how to make their claims in cases of accidents or eventualities. This is where these legitimate insurance companies and bodies should come in; to educate the masses and their potential customers on how to obtain a genuine car insurance policy.

As we wait for the insurance companies to start the publicity, here are simple rules we have put together on how to obtain a genuine car insurance policy in Nigeria:

• Decide on what type of Insurance you want:

Do you want a comprehensive insurance policy for your automobile or you just want a third party insurance policy? The comprehensive car insurance policy will include a cover for your car in cases of fire, theft, accident and also includes a third party insurance policy while a third party insurance policy is that which only covers or protects you from the damages caused by your car on other cars in the case of your negligence or your driver’s negligence while driving the insured car. The third party policy is compulsory according to the Nigerian Insurance Act 2003.

• Contact a registered Insurance Company

If you want to get a genuine insurance policy, please do not patronize those people flocking around licensing offices for your car insurance. If you do, be sure to get fake papers and when you will need the insurance you have spent your hard earned money to do the job in case of any accident or damage, no one will be there to help because you patronized the fraudsters.

If you just bought a new car from an auto dealer, he may offer to provide you with insurance, note that these car dealers are not insurance companies but some of them do have contact or have good rapport with some insurance companies. First, make sure you verify that the insurance company he is referring you to is legally registered. How do you know that? Some good insurance companies in Nigeria which provide trusted services to their customers include:

• AIICO Insurance PLC
• IGI Insurance
• Old Mutual Nigeria
• Cornerstone Insurance
• Consolidated Hallmark Insurance
• FBN Life
• Leadway Assurance PLC
• Zenith Insurance PLC
• Mansard Insurance PLC

 These are just a few of the registered insurance companies that operate in Nigeria and they are regulated by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). You can visit the NAICOM website on www(dot)naicom(dot)gov(dot)ng to get a comprehensive list of the registered insurance companies in Nigeria. You can check out the websites of these companies, check their ‘contact us’ corner to know if there is any of their branches close to you or better still send them an email or call the contact numbers on their website. A better and faster way to do this is to use the insurance quotes services of insurancequotes.ng to request for cost estimates. Each of your quotes request submission is transferred in real time to relevant insurance companies who quickly reach out to you for discussions. This is far more comfortable. All the same, it is better to take your time to achieve a genuine insurance cover than getting a fast one from illegitimate dealers.

• Verify your new Insurance Policy

As soon as you buy your insurance, always endeavour to verify your policy by sending an SMS to 33125 in this format:

Policy number*your vehicle plate number.

On your phone for instance, type AIN/061/310100*AB123YZ and send to 33125. You will receive a message telling you that your vehicle is ‘insured’ if you got a genuine insurance policy or ‘not insured’ if the policy is fraudulent. You can visit to website for the Nigerian Insurance Database Portal, www(dot)askniid(dot)org which is the central record of all insured vehicles in Nigeria. The Nigerian police also use ASKNIID to enforce motor insurance law, so ensure that your vehicle is properly and genuinely insured by verifying through these methods.