Managing Director, Great Nigeria Insurance Plc, Mrs Cecilia Osipitan on Tuesday charged Nigerians to embrace insurance culture more than ever before.
Osipitan, in a statement made available in Lagos, gave the advice in preparation for the rainy season.
She stated that most of the road accidents happen during the season due to downpour resulting in waterlogging, covered potholes, manholes and ditches.
According to her, most cases of collapsed buildings especially those under construction, fire outrage and other eventualities have destroyed properties worth millions occur during the rainy season .
The managing director emphasised the need to positively influence the perception of the public to engender greater patronage of insurance.
Osipitan stated that the negative notion that most people had against insurance was adversely affecting the performance of the industry.
She mentioned that low awareness remains one of the major reasons why a v large percentage of Nigerians are not insuring as they ought to, considering the population and the level of commercial activities in the country.
“GNI is currently sponsoring various programmes on several medium to extensively discuss the importance of insurance, with the different products and services available under the stable of the company.
“We remain resolute in delivering on all promises made,” she said.
The company’s spokesperson, Miss Oyinkansola Sobande, said that it was high time Nigerians needed to consciously educate themselves on the benefits they could enjoy from an insurance policy.
Sobande stated that there were various insurance products that had been designed to protect lives and properties, as insurance is a very important aspect of life.
“Nigerians have waited too long in recognising and accepting the reality that without insurance, one is like building a house without a foundation, which could crash in no time,” she said.
Also, the Head, Corporate Services of the underwriting firm, Mrs Kofoworola Oshiga, attributed the low patronage of insurance in the country to the fact that Nigerians lack the basic insurance knowledge to fully appreciate the benefits inherent in it.
“Experience has shown that an individual who took one policy or the other in the past but with awry experience along the line was largely due to the inability of perusing their insurance contract or policy document as the case may be.
“Such an individual is capable of giving wrong information or misrepresentation of ideas to would-be customers who would have taken one policy or the other,” she said.