An insurance expert has appealed to insurance consumers to continue to embrace insurance covers in the wake of high rises in the prices of goods and services occasioned by the hike in the pump price of fuel saying that insurance is a life saver.

The appeal is hinged on the fact that the insuring public is quick to discard insurance when economic situations get tougher.

Managing Director of FBN Life Assurance, Mr. Val Ojumah, who spoke to Vanguard noted that the insurance sector is always the weeping baby when people begin to consider factors that they have to cut off from their scale of preferences.

To this end, Ojumah called on insurance consumers to go ahead and renew their policies for the 2012 financial year as they will not regret it.

He said, “In the wake of the recent increase in the pump price of fuel which has resulted in the astronomical rise in the prices of goods and services in the country, consumers of insurance products and services should go ahead and renewal their policies for 2012 because the importance of insurance cannot be over emphasised.”

While regretting that insurance is the first thing that gets cut off when the economy becomes too hard, Ojumah stated that Nigerians should change that negative perception and see insurance as a basic necessity of life.

Ojumah said, “Insurance activities may suffer in 2012 because insurance consumers heavily burdened by the hike in fuel price are likely to cut off their insurance contract as a tightening measure to beat the high economic cost being occasioned by the hike in fuel price, but such move will not be the best.”

Ojumah cautioned the insuring public to employ sound economic decisions because cutting off insurance from their scale of preference may not be the best of options.

He said “Removing insurance from ones agenda for the year could turn out to be a bad choice which any insurance consumer can make because insurance is a necessity for everyone.”

Lending his voice to the argument, former Managing Director of Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, Mr. Ezekiel Chiejina, said that the hike in fuel price could cause some insurance consumers review their scale of preference, however, insurance should not be the weeping child in such a list.

Chiejina was however optimistic that the effect will not be too severe on life insurance business because most life policies are long term in nature.

It will be recalled that after a week-long of strike, rallies, street protests and talks with labour, President Goodluck Jonathan announced a new pump price for petrol at N97 per litre.

The new price is N44 less than the N141 announced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, on January 1st; and N32 higher than the former price of N65, demanded by labour and the civil society.

According to the President, PPPRA has been directed to ensure compliance with the new pump price.

Jonathan, however, said that his government is working hard to reduce recurrent expenditure in line with current realities and to cut down on the cost of governance.

He also said the Federal Government has started the implementation of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment projects which includes the government – assisted mass transit programme and job creation for the youth.”