Fake motor insurance dealers arrested – NIC

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) says the Airport Police has on Friday January 31, 2020 arrested some workers of Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited for dealing in fake insurance stickers at the Head Office of the company at Abelenkpe in Accra.

According to the NIC, the arrest was caused at the instance of the Special Investigative Unit of the NIC upon a tip-off and the case is currently being investigated by the Airport Police.

The regulator for insurance noted that it has in the last quarter of 2019 published the names of regulated insurance entities in good standing and one of the Companies not on the list is Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited.

Mr Oliver Bio, Senior Manager (Legal) of the NIC speaking in an interview on Friday with GhanaWeb explained that, by this action, Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited has been placed under an enforcement action with a condition not to sell new businesses to the general public.

Adding that, Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited’s continuous sale of new insurance businesses to the general public is in violation of the Regulator’s directive.

"In their own interest and in the interest of innocent third parties, all those who have purchased various insurance policies from Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited from January 2020 should stand notice that their insurances are invalid and therefore may be prosecuted if found by the appropriate law enforcement agencies as this company does not have the mandate to transact new businesses with the public as they have not even been set up on the NIC’s central Motor Insurance Database (MID) as a result of the enforcement action placed on them by the Regulator", Mr. Bio explained.

According to the NIC, only licensed insurance entities in good standing as at September 2019 as they appear on the list, can do business with the general public.

Other developments on arrest of fake insurance dealers

Mr. Oliver Bio also revealed that following the implementation of the Motor Insurance Database (MID), the Commission had earlier caused the arrest of some perpetrators issuing fake motor insurance stickers in the Ashanti Region and the culprits are still being investigated.

He cited the arrest of a female Insurance Agent who sells Motor Insurance for Loyalty Insurance Limited who was arrested for issuing fake insurance stickers under Prime Insurance Company Limited to members of the general public at the premises of the Kumasi DVLA Office.

In a similar fashion, two Agents of Millennium Insurance Company Limited in the Ashanti Regions have also been arrested for possessing fake Allianz Insurance sticker booklets at the same Kumasi DVLA Office.

According to the Senior Manager (Legal) for NIC, Mr. Oliver Bio said these cases are under investigation by the Police.

On January 1, the National Insurance Commission began the implementation of the Motor Insurance Database (MID) policy to clamp down on the menace of vehicles with fake motor insurance stickers plying on roads.

The Commission issued a directive giving all insurance companies up to January 20, 2020 to migrate all their information to the new Motor Insurance Database system.