NIID: how to check your insurance plan online
Have you ever dealt with car insurance issues in your life? NIID is the only national database of all insured vehicles in Nigeria. If you live in Nigeria, you know that getting valid motor insurance from an insurance company may be tricky. Here, we are going to talk about how to check your coverage online to avoid any possible difficulties.
Source: UGC
The NIID (the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database) is the only central record of insured vehicles in Nigeria. The NIID is aimed at adhering to the highest standards in the industry and the Nigerian economy in general. The NIID aim is to protect the interests of Nigerian insurers.
Similar to other countries, this service in Nigeria may cost a lot. It is not easy to get a valid one. The truth is motor insurance is compulsory. Every driver in Nigeria has no choice but is required to purchase this document. What is more important, it has to be issued by a valid insurer. Unfortunately, high requirements for car drivers have resulted in appearing a massive number of insurers offering fake documents. Sometimes consumers are not even aware that they have purchased fake document.
The only way of how to prove that you bought valid motor insurance is to check the NIID. It is run by an independent institution that cannot be influenced by any of the fake companies. If a vehicle is not included on the NIID list, it can be assumed that it is not currently insured. In case, a car accident happens, the police will base its decision on the results from the NIID verification. If a vehicle is not found in this database, it can be confiscated, and a driver may get a penalty.
How to check the status of the insurance policy on the NIID database?
Of course, nobody likes to be deceived, especially, when it comes to fake documents. If your car is not registered in the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID), it means your car insurance licence is illegal and not worth a penny. The good news is you can check the status of your policy yourself online.
How to verify the liability of your car insurance licence policy? It takes a few minutes to verify the authenticity of your car insurance policy on the NIID platform. The first thing you need to do is to visit the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID), select either single or fleet, and apply the car insurance policy code or registration number into the GSM handset. The status of the document will be shown on the screen within a few seconds.
In case, your car is not included on the NIID list, you will get a message saying “not available on NIID database”. Otherwise, the information about your vehicle will be displayed on the screen. There will appear such details as the name in which a car is registered, the make, model of the car, its colour as well as the name of the insurer. There also will be displayed the date of expiration of the document.
How to check your insurance plan online?
Source: UGC
Every plan is adjusted to the particular consumer’s needs. The same firm plans may cover different services. Every trustworthy insurer is trying to offer various types of plans to choose from. Sometimes a car insurance plan may cover expenses you do not expect, but you must check a range of services provided by the company in every particular case yourself.
You can obtain this information either from a company representative in the office or online. To check the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (also known as SBC) of the insurance online, you need to log onto an online account through the insurer. The next step is to find a link to your insurance plan. It is a standard document that lists the services the particular insurance covers.
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You can check if your agreement is active online if you have an account on your insurer website. In case, you pay your monthly premiums to the company on time, it is probably active. One more advantage of buying this service is that you are issued a card as proof of the coverage. You must keep it in a safe place to be able to prove to the officials that you have bought it from a reliable company. If you have not received a card, you might need to call your insurer to check if they offer such a service. A card is also a sign that your coverage is active and your insurer is legal. As mentioned above, you can verify the company trustworthiness by checking the list of the insurers licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).
If you have questions about your insurance plan, for example, when it starts or what it covers, you can always call your insurer. The company representatives are there to help you if any question arises.
How to protect yourself from fake car insurers?
Source: UGC
As you understand, one can verify a vehicle status after a driver purchases car insurance. If a car owner cannot find his vehicle with a specific number, colour on the NIID list, what remains is to sue a fake insurer in the court. However, there is another way of how a car owner can protect himself from fraud.
It is clear that to avoid any misunderstandings one has to verify the authenticity of the motor insurance in advance. While insurers are numerous, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is the institution that issues licenses to the insurers based in Nigeria. You may be surprised, but only 28 general business insurers are recognised as legal in this country. On the one hand, it is not difficult to fall prey of fake car insurers. It often happens when a vehicle owner needs to renew his insurance. Consequently, they rush to the nearest licensing office and get a fake document in a few minutes.
Car drivers may face even more serious troubles when a car accident happens. If the document is illegal, motorists are not protected which puts them at risk of imprisonment or paying a fee. Another inconvenience is that a driver will always feel embarrassed by security agencies monitoring compliance on the roads. One more thing to take into account is that a person will have to pay from their pocket to cover the cost of damage whenever they hit someone on the road.
Hence, it is better to take some time to check one of the insurers to get a legal motor third party insurance.
Thomas Sunday, director general, Nigerian Insurers Association stated,
“Verifying the authenticity of your vehicle insurance policy on the NIID gives you peace of mind and assurance that your claim will be paid”.
So, before you buy a document from any of the insurers' offices, make sure it is registered in the National Insurance Commission (NIID). Before you get a penalty or your car is confiscated, you need to find out whether your plan covers the car damages or your document is fake. There are a few ways to check the status of the car insurance plan. We hope you found out what suits you the best.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
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Source: Legit.ng
