By Patience Saghana

After 10 years of planning and deliberations by the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) on its vision to set up a Customer Complaint Bureau for the industry’s policyholders, Justice George Adesola Oguntade, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court has been appointed to chair the bureau.

Professor Joe Irukwu, past chairman of NIA said at the lunching of the bureau in Lagos recently that the association started to nurse the idea of establishing customer complaint bureau 10 years back Irukwu said, “The establishment of the bureau and its launching today, was an idea we have nursed for 10years”

Justice Oguntade in his acceptance speech said, “I want to thank the NIA for the honour and privilege to serve as the chairman of your new initiative, the Customer Complaints Bureau. I was made to understand that the initiative is among the several efforts of your Association at instituting self regulation and also to engender consumers trust and confidence”.

For the bureau, Oguntade promised to provide make groom the bureau to a one_stop shop for dealing with disputes about insurance services with the aims to resolve disputes quickly and with minimum formality; to provide a prompt, user_friendly and unbureaucratic service; to take decisions which are consistent, fair and reasonable; to be cost_effective and efficient; to be accessible to all groups in the industry, including the vulnerable and the disadvantaged; to be regarded as good value by the industry; to be forward_looking, adaptable and flexible, making effective use of new technology and to be trusted and respected by both consumers, the industry and other interested parties.

Justice Oguntade said that he was not unmindful of the onerous demands and responsibilities which the position as chairman of customer complaint bureau has imposed on him.

“I know that the task of performing the role of an ombudsman to this great Association, nay, industry will be herculean but we can all make it worthwhile if we rededicate ourselves to the true essence and obligations which this noble profession places on us”.

Mr Olusola Ladipo_Ajayi, Chairman of the association recalled the lost glory of the insurance industry arising from claims default and disputes that gave the sector a bad image. He stated, “Today, we want to shake off the yoke of the inglorious past and chart a new beginning for the insurance industry anchored on the principles of trust and utmost good faith, the basic pillars of insurance practice”.

Ladipo_Ajayi said the bureau is not in anyway competing with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) rather it is to compliment its efforts.

“The establishment of the Bureau is not a substitute or a foreclosure of the insured’s rights to recourse to the regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) or the courts.

It must be emphasized here that this Bureau is not to duplicate the statutory responsibility of the Commission but to complement it and ensure that policyholders have wider avenues for prompt and fair hearing”

The objectives of the bureau, according to the NIA chairman include: to serve as alternative dispute resolution mechanism; to provide an independent opinion on disputes that may arise in any insurance transaction  between members of the association and policyholders; to reduce the cost of obtaining justice in respect of insurance related matters especially those involving members of the Association; to promote good and prompt service delivery and bring about trust and confidence between the insurance industry and the insuring public
Justice Oguntade, the NIA chairman said, would be working with other members from Nigerian Bar Association and the NIA .

He said that the bureau is free to co opt and seek advice from any persons for the purpose of arriving at a fair and equitable decision