The newly sworn-in President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), Shaibu Ali, is urging the public to deal with insurance brokers rather than directly with insurance firms.
According to him Insurance Brokers are trained personnel who can recommend ideal insurance packages for their clients and work to protect their interests.
He stated that “the broker has a crucial role to play and that role is that fact that the broker will assess the risk, go to the market, look for competitive pricing for you and when there is a claim, it is the broker who will sort it out”
In our part of the world, it is out of ignorance about what the broker does that is why some people will go directly to the insurance company. It is never advisable” he added.
Despite efforts to increase insurance Penetration in Ghana, Insurance remains one of the least peptonized services in the country.
A recent report by the bank of Ghana indicated that the rate of insurance penetration has remained at 1% over the past five years.
One of the reasons why many aren’t subscribing to insurance aside from access to information is the experience some clients have had in dealing with service providers.
Mr Shaibu Ali while speaking on the sidelines of his investiture as the 10th President of Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG) stated that the narrative could change if the public relied on insurance brokers while purchasing a cover policy.
Meanwhile speaking on behalf of the Director of the Financial Service Division of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs Patience Arko-Boham stressed the need to acquire insurance especially with the rising incidents in the country.
“Many of these happenings affect the livelihood, businesses and families of the citizenry and eventually force the government to draw from the national purse to support the victims.”
“However, if the victims had certain insurance policies in force, the livelihoods, businesses and families would have been restored seamlessly without ever overburdening the government”
Mr Shaibu Ali who is the Managing Director of KEK Insurance Brokers Limited was sworn in as President of the Association on Thursday, January 27 2022 after ending his tenure as Vice President.
He replaced Mrs Lena Adu-Kofi who continues to serve on the Executive Council of IBAG as an Ex-officio member.