Mr Shaibu Ali, IBAG President
The newly sworn-in President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), Shaibu Ali, has advised the public to deal with insurance brokers instead of insurance companies directly.
According to him, insurance brokers are qualified individuals who can advise clients on the best insurance packages and fight to safeguard their interests.
“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,” he said.
“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 boost insurance penetration in Ghana, it remains one of the country’s least popular services.
According to a recent report by Ghana’s central bank, insurance penetration has stayed around one percent for the past five years.
Aside from lack of information, one of the reasons why many people aren’t buying insurance is bad experiences with service providers.
Speaking on the occasion of his inauguration as the 10th President of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), Mr Ali noted that if the public depend on insurance brokers when obtaining a cover policy, the narrative would change.
Get insured
Representing the Director of the Ministry of Finance’s Financial Service Division, Mrs Patience Arko-Boham emphasised the need for obtaining insurance, particularly in light of the country’s increasing events.
“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,” she said.
At the event, Mr Shaibu Ali, who is the Managing Director of KEK Insurance Brokers Limited, was sworn in as president of the Association 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.
About The Author
