INSURANCE Most of my friends that knew I graduated as an accountant will ask what he knows about insurance. But as God will have it, by end of June this year 2014, I would have spent 9 straight years marketing insurance polices; with over 70 clients under my portfolio, several claims settled with just one death claim; no thanks to the Obatse cult attack in Nasarawa state last year. I lost my client Mr. Mohammed Ozi (it may interest you to know that no life insurance company wants to lose its clients to death, because it brings negative to it financial base). My going into the industry was like what turned engineers, agriculturist, horticulturist and even graduate of various areas of healthcare into bankers. I cherish my own situation because my background was finance related and insurance is also finance related, which also falls in line with my objective in life, concocted from my being a humanitarian and reads thus, “to use the instruments of finance to influence the world’s people toward making our world a better place”. Severally I have seen myself fulfilling this objective each time my clients make their claims. Now to the business of the day; insurance is broadly divided into two major areas namely: general and life insurance. Its standard definition is that “it is the polling of risk”. But for purpose of the layman on the streets I will define it as that aspect of finance which ensures that people are provided money in the event of a loss depending on the agreement reached with an insurance company. Before I go ahead with discussing each divide of the industry, I will like to pinpoint some of the misconceptions people have about insurance despite being exposed to literatures, documentaries and films (e.g titanic) that has shown how taking up an insurance policy helped take away shame in various case of loss suffered by people. They include the following; - It is a legalized 419 (obtain by tricks): Will a government which in the real sense is you and I, go all out to defraud its citizens? - I Have enough policies (you can never have enough because our wants are insatiable and are ever increasing. Moreover, the essence of life insurance in particular is to enable you maintain the same standard of life you had while in active service. In essence if you are today living on N200,000 per month, running a life insurance policy that will pay you N20,000 monthly at retirement is a disservice to yourself) - It does not work in Nigeria (how has the likes of AIICO, Royal exchange, BAICO etc maintained business for over 50 years?). - They do not pay on time (is it not better to be expectant of something to fall back on, than having nothing to expect?) - Their marketers are unstable and at times fraudulent (your business is with the insurance company not the individual marketer. To avoid being defrauded make your premium payments in cheque, ask for direct debit mandate, make transfers, pay by yourself and handover teller to marketer or use the POS machines of the company. Your marketer must be aware of whichever you choose, so he can ensure proper documentation of your transactions). - Their records are never correct (in any transaction involving money anytime, anywhere you must take safe keeping of evidences of the transactions serious. Open a file and keep all your receipts and insurance documents there, if demanded make your copies before handing them over). - How will my beneficiaries access their claims incase I am dead? (You should have a file in your house for your documents which has names of your beneficiaries for all your financial involvements. Most men are over secretive to a fault; hence their loved ones inability to enjoy from programmes like this). - Claims are delayed to frustrate you from getting the money (If the marketer you originally started with, is no longer in the system, go to the company and ask for an immediate replacement. If marketers are not relevant, the banks would not have adopted the system of attaching marketers to accounts holders. I remember 20 years ago, I worked into first bank to open an account myself. Today, I have a marketer that calls me once in a while to show somebody is helping me keep an eye on the accounts. It is only your marketer that can help undertake the problem of prolonged claim settlement). - They do not disclose all relevant information with the intent of ensuring they do not settle the claims in the long run. (The saying that “the best way to keep information from the black man is by writing it down because he will never have the discipline of making out time to read” comes to mind. Please read your policy documents once given and ask questions for clarity; attention must be paid to areas that have to do with policy lapse and steps that most be taken to protect your property in the case of general insurance). - I am only doing the marketer a favour (I pray after saving up your money, you hand it over to the marketer once you are settled. Moreover, we all get to the top through somebody’s help, what if God has placed you for that marketer or agent to get to the top? Remember those who neglect God’s directive never find it nice. Meanwhile God can still use someone else.) - I have several evidences of none payment of claims (did you investigate to know whether the individuals with these experience paid their premiums as and when due? Did they not try on their own part to defraud the insurance company? People have burnt their houses to collect insurance claims, got accident by drunkenness and made claims for their cars, arranged for their vessels to be sunk and made claims. Even there is this story of a biological Pakistani and a British citizen by birth that arranged with his wife to make claims on the grounds that he was dead. The British insurance company made the payment and by some sort of privileged information decided to investigate the couple. Only to find the man alive in Pakistan. Every right thinking businessman must make proper investigation before parting with his money. Insurance companies are never immune from this). - What do they even do with our money (Interestingly they do not ask the banks what they do with their money: whatever the banks does with your money, is what the insurance company does with your money) - I can not stand knowing my money is somewhere which I cannot access (that is why it is called a disciplined savings, once your money is there, take it as a forgotten expenditure, but the truth is that it provides you a dignified old age and keeps your family from the embarrassment of begging for their sustenance or the children begging to maintain the level of education their father started while he was alive) - In the event of termination , their charges are high (There are various types of life insurance policies that serve different purposes depending on whether the policies are long or short term. It cost more to terminate a long term policy compared to a short term policy. Be sure of what you want before you go into it. Why on earth should you consider terminating? It simply means you do not appreciate what you went into in the first place) - I do not have enough money to save (Always put yourself in the shoes of someone you are financially better than, to gather the morale for savings. In essence you earn N50,000 put yourself in the shoes of someone that earns N40,000 and save N10,000) - The Economy is tough: This is the more reason why you need to save for the rainy day because in the real sense the economy will always be tough. Mind you even if you have somebody your family can lean on, in the event of the inevitable. Such a person has limitations to the extent he may want to assist your family because there are established expenditures he can not do without, talk less of adding yours to it. We all know that the experience of most widows and even widowers in this our part of the divide is never a palatable one I do not know if I covered your own line of misconception. But know it that whether it is a general (Motor vehicle, marine, goods in transit, health insurance, workers indemnity etc) or life (Retirement, children education, business development, emergency, annuity, pension, group life etc) insurance policies, they guide against unforeseen circumstances. Irrespective of the kind of prayer warrior you may be, take an insurance policy today by being realistic and guiding against being a dependant at old age, a pest and an irresponsible man or woman (1 Tim 5:8). Both men and woman are expected to provide for their households or siblings, church, social groups etc, you can use insurance to; - Create a foundation that will support a particular course. - Create a fund with which your assets can be handed over to your beneficiaries in the case of death ( meet a good lawyer for clarification) - Create a saved up capital for your immediate and extended family, church, social group or town union at your death. - Provide money for international programmes and make yourself celebrated even at death. - Save up for your old age, and save yourself the embarrassment of being that parent that will force his daughters into early marriage or his sons into crime because of the monetary incentive they will be making off them. - Expand your business - Guide against the embarrassment of going to beg your children’s teacher on allowance to raise funds for their schools etc. It has been identified that any real man or woman must have - A Genuine source of income. - A bank account (both savings and current) - An investment in both the capital and money market - An investment in landed properties - Policies on insurance that should protect all of the above and as well your family and loved ones in general, from unforeseen circumstances of life. If you are interested, go for it, you can contact any insurance broker or better still work into any insurance company and describe what you want. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 14:10:33 +0000
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