Malik Sulaiman, an aviation/financial consultant, has called on the insuring public to read their policy document and ensure that they totally understand its contents, while buying insurance. He stated that this was the only reliable way to ensure that their claims will not be denied them when their insured peril falls due. He gave this advice as part of his contributions to taking insurance to higher heights in Nigeria.
Sulaiman added that it was essential that when taking out any sort of insurance cover, the buyer should know exactly what is covered and what is not, including the depth of coverage.
According to him, most people usually get disappointed because they would have thought that they are covered, but are surprised to know that they are not, at a time of claims making where they realize that it may be too late. Unfortunately, all that pains could have been avoided if they had read their policy documents at the point of purchase.
He said, “You may think you are covered for flood damage, only to be told at the eleventh hour that the knee deep water in your living room is actually storm damage, a situation that rules you out of any cover.”
The consultant stated that “while it may seem like a hassle, reading the fine print of a policy is definitely worth doing and could save you a lot of money.”
Sulaiman stressed that one of the main areas with ambiguous, quirky or even misleading fine print is travel insurance and suggested a few steps which the public should follow as a way of enhancing their level of understanding.
“It is important to think of all the activities that you will be doing on your trip and make sure they are included in the policy. Sometimes, you will have to specifically mention high risk activities such as skydiving, or other risky activities,” He said.
He explained that “many insurance policies grossly over insure a certain area to make their policy seem more comprehensive,” adding that it is often a ploy. Also, some insurers may offer, say, 1million naira in medical coverage, but while this may seem like the deal of a life time, it is very unlikely that you would ever need more than that medical cover.
He advised further that if one is “bringing along any expensive luggage like a computer or camera, it is wrong to think that it is safe just because of a high personal belongings cover.” Instead, you should check the individual item limit.
Sulaiman explained that if one has been to hospital in the last two years this could sometimes exclude him from certain types of medical cover.
He therefore suggested that the insuring public should ensure that they not only read their policy documents, but also clearly understand it and sort out grey areas. That way, they will not face some of the common avoidance tricks which some insurers employ in order to repudiate from paying claims.
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