The SIC Insurance PLC has revealed that even though insurance companies take a premium for providing cover for vehicles in case of legitimate liabilities the increasing road fatalities were putting a huge financial burden on insurance companies.
The increasing road crashes were not only a health challenge but have a significant economic cost on the insurance industry as insurers were paying huge amounts of monies in claims resulting from such accidents and the overall impact on families, “life cannot be compensated for”.
Mrs Cynthia Kwarteng Tufuor, the SIC Area Manager, said this at the Ghana News Agency Dialogue to discuss the impact of road crashes on the insurance industry.
The latest National Road Safety statistics indicate that between January and May this year, the country experienced 6,472 road crashes, resulting in 6,620 injuries and 1,140 deaths.
On the categories of vehicles involved, the data shows that 4,873 private cars represent 44.88 per cent; 3,669 commercial vehicles, represent 33.79 per cent; and 2,316 motorcycles, representing 21.33 per cent were involved in the road accidents.
The National Road Safety data also identified Greater Accra with 2,735, Ashanti with 1,496 and Eastern with 709 as the three top Regions with the highest number of road crashes between January and May this year.
Mrs Tufuor said the increasing road crashes put an enormous burden on insurance companies, which pay huge compensations to either victims or their dependents.
Mrs Tufuor, who also has oversight responsibility for parts of Volta, and Eastern Regions, said improvement in road safety was beneficial to the public and the insurance industry.
She said insurance coverage ensured that health and property costs for victims of road crashes were protected, adding that reducing the number or severity of crashes was generally beneficial for all while reducing the volumes of claims and compensations paid by insurance firms.
She said SIC Insurance PLC was taking a leadership role to reduce the cause of road safety.
Miss Cynthia Twumasi, the Deputy Area Manager of SIC Insurance PLC, denied the notion that some insurance companies unfairly ripped off their clients, stating that most of these issues were based on a misunderstanding of the type of insurance policy cover provided.
She said it was important for potential clients to understand clearly, the terms and conditions of the insurance cover they purchased so they would be compensated appropriately based on the cover.
She said SIC Insurance PLC paid its claims in a timeous manner, explaining that insurance companies were regulated by the National Insurance Commission, which supervises, regulates and controls the business of insurance in the country.
She, therefore, advised persons whose legitimate claims were repudiated by any insurance company to seek appropriate redress through the Commission.
On the need for insurance companies to join the GNA-Tema Road Safety Campaign, Miss Twumasi explained that, even though it might seem the incentives for insurers to prevent road crashes primarily come from their liability to pay for claims relating to road crashes, the societal benefits were greater since many lives would be saved.
