For insurance to work properly, we must know that all parties involved (the insured, insurer, insurance broker and other relevant professionals) have roles to play and each party's role cannot be overemphasised. It is not enough to purchase an insurance policy and 'go to sleep'. Rather, we must have a clear understanding of what our responsibilities are and carry them out as diligently as required.
Aside the technical roles enunciated in the first part of this topic, an insured must:
1) Avoid loss from occurring: it is true that you as an insured bought insurance in order to be protected but at the same time, you must do all within your capacity to ensure that the occurrence insured against does not happen! Paradoxical? Not exactly. The truth is your insurance, most often than not especially for non-life insurances, has a limit and once the limit is reached, you are no longer covered. Besides, the number of losses (claims) you experience is a Major determinant of your next premium. Also, there are some policies where the concept of 'excess' and 'deductible' are applicable. In excess, you are expected to fund a claim which is within a particular limit (for instance, for a policy with N20 Million sum assured, an excess of N250,000 may be applied whereby the Insurer will not pay for any loss within N250,000) while in deductible, a certain amount of money is deducted from a loss figure before the insured is paid. This is not cheating but to instill discipline on the part of the insured
2) Have a fore knowledge of the claim requirements: this is very essential as many erroneously believe that Insurance imposes strict documentation in order to avoid paying claims. We must understand that investigations are part of the claims handling process. The loss must be ascertained and one way this is done is by requesting for documents. This is however, not to say that it is right for insurers to be rigid about documents. Please have a good understanding of the documents required to settle claims before they even occur and if possible negotiate. We all know how difficult it is to obtain some documents in this country but when you have negotiated with your insurer (most effectively through an insurance broker), you know the exact documents you need to submit to your insurers in the event of a loss.
3) Report irresponsible insurers: yes, you have the right to report insurers who are not honouring your genuine claims. In the event of an insured loss, your insurers must respond and issue you with a Discharge Voucher (or Discharge Form) few days after completion of all documentations and upon completing the discharge voucher, your claim should be settled in a matter of days. The best bet is to have a prior agreement with your insurer on deliverables and timelines and if your insurer defaults (or even your broker), kindly make a report to the National Insurance Commission for an effective intervention.
Above all, we must always remember that we all are parties to the successful implementation of an insurance policy. Your contributions, comments and questions are welcome.
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