8 out of 10 insurance violators arrested by task force, sent to CID for caution statement - NIC

National Insurance Commission (NIC) task force has arrested about 10 business operatives doing work without securing commercial insurance license as well as not possessing a fire insurance certificate.

Members of the task force say they have sent three notices to the erring parties but they chose to be intransigent. The taskforce is made up of personnel from NIC, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and the Ghana Police Service (GPS).

A task force member observed it was criminal offense for a property owner to erect a commercial structure and not have it insured as the owner bore a duty of care to anyone coming to the premises to transact business failure of which the defaulter must be prosecuted.

It emerged although some business operators had the insurance certificate, they had not displayed it. Suck folks were impressed upon to do so however those whose license had expired were given the opportunity to renew.

Meanwhile, some arrested business operators were angry at the manner of their arrest with eight from the ten refusing to comply for which they were sent to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for their caution statement. The NIC says it shall continue to embark on the enforcement exercises to have commercial premises and even private homes insured for the safety of all.

The NIC draws its powers from section 183 and 184 of the Insurance Acts, 2006 (Act 724) which requires a person who constructs or causes to be constructed a commercial building to insure the liability in respect of construction risks with a registered insurer.