September 7, 2022

…Says underwriters, brokers frustrating efforts

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has decried the lackadaisical attitude of insurance companies over non-payment of death benefits of civil servants.

Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, the Deputy Director, Communications, office of the HOCSF made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Yemi-Esan said this during the meeting with Underwriters of the Group Life Insurance Policy for Federal Civil Servants in her office.

Yemi-Esan expressed her displeasure to the fact that these people were dead and could not fight for themselves.

She said the Federal Government was doing its best to improve the welfare of families of deceased workers through the prompt release of funds for the payment of death benefits.

She lamented that the underwriters and brokers were frustrating the efforts by their unserious attitude.

The HOS said that such situation was unacceptable and must be remedied.

According to her, the meeting is necessary so as to bridge the gap that exists between the underwriters and brokers as it is unreasonable to continue doing the same thing repeatedly without achieving meaningful result.

“If the brokers are no longer relevant, then they should be blacklisted.

“Payment of insurance claim is not rocket science, the office of the Head of the Civil Service performs similar function by settling backlog of claims not covered by the present arrangement seamlessly.”

Yemi-Esan said that from the breakdown of the report, there was a clear indication of a huge gap between the number of claims reported and those paid.

She added that there was the need for improvement from the insurance service providers, as there was always room for other alternatives.

In his remarks, the Lead Underwriter and CEO of Old Mutual (Nig.) Ltd., Mr Segun Omosehin, expressed his gratitude to the Head of Service for her concerns and show of outright displeasure with their low performance.

Omosehin pledged the company’s commitment to support the Head of Service by doing the needful to bridge the gap existing between the underwriters and the brokers.

He, however, identified the gap as the major issue responsible for the late payment of claims to families of departed civil servants. (NAN)