The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has revealed plans to roll out a unified industry master plan that would address some of the pending challenges confronting the sector by October.

The plan, according to the commission, is important to the industry and would also enable it to have codified strategic initiatives that would be implemented over a given period.

NAICOM said operators are of the view that the plan will help the successive leadership that comes in to address some challenges in the sector, adding it will also help to guide the action of leaders in terms of what the industry wants to achieve.

The commission also revealed they are aware that some operators are violating the industry rules particularly, the new third-party motor rates and promised it will carry out necessary actions in due time.

Addressing some of these issues, the Commissioner for Insurance, Sunday Thomas, through a paper delivered at a seminal organised for the media with the theme: “The improving Stakeholders Perception 2023 and Beyond,” held in Akwa Ibom State, warned some of the underwriting firms not to sell policy below the official rate and commended other operators that have been making positive commendations on the impact of the new rates and increased benefits.

Thomas also addressed the issue of claims payment in the industry and urged the underwriters to pay policyholders’ claims promptly, saying this would help to sustain the industry’s drive to emerge as a major driver of economic growth.

According to him, the commission has written to underwriting firms and given them the time frame to pay claims to their subscribers, saying “if they don’t do it, there must be consequences, but we believe they will get it done. There are so many claims that were already paid and that is why we are still in business. Of course, nobody is going to talk about that but we are doing so much in paying claims,” he said.

On the transition from International Financial Reporting Standard 4 (IFRS 4) to IFRS 17 and its implementation, Thomas said the Nigerian sector is far ahead of most countries in Africa.

He said that a lot of companies are on course, stressing that already the commission had constituted teams comprising actuarial firms that had worked assiduously on the exercise.

“We have encouraged operators to work together to minimise the cost of transition from IFRS 4 to IFRS 17. IFRS 4 was good but IFRS 17 is more about transparency. We are ready for the implementation this 2023.

“By my position engaging other countries in Africa, we are way ahead of most jurisdictions as most don’t even know what it is or started anything.

“By the time the Insurance companies will be rendering the returns for 2023 transactions, we will see where the gaps are and we will do everything possible to support the industry to fill those gaps as much as possible,” he said.

The commissioner also said that part of the commission’s strategic plan for the sector is to maximise the insurance of government assets.