Heads of two companies arrested for failing to insure property

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) Taskforce has arrested the heads of two companies in the Greater Accra Metropolis for failing to insure their commercial property. The companies are the General Auto Zone Company and Ghana Heavy Duty Truck and Spare Parts and were detained at the Police Headquarters for the necessary action. They were among 70 companies which were cautioned two weeks ago by the NIC to insure their property or face the full rigours of the law. The Taskforce, made up of officials from the NIC, Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service, inspected the companies to ensure the compliance of the Insurance Law, Act 724 of 2006. Out of the nine privately owned companies inspected, only the two did not have the fire insurance certificates, in spite of several notifications by the NIC to have them insured. The Insurance Law makes it compulsory for all commercial buildings, either under construction or completed, to have an insurance certificate. Compulsory insurance was designed to cover the legal liabilities of owners or occupiers of commercial buildings or vehicles in respect of bodily injury to users and third parties, loss of life or death suffered by users and third parties, and damage to property belonging to users and members of the public. Interacting with the media after the exercise, Mr Joseph Bentor, the Chairman of the Taskforce, said the exercise formed part of the move to enforce Sections 183 and 184 of the Insurance Act. He said the NIC did a visibility study and identified that 40 private entities in the Metropolis out of 67 had not complied with the directives. Mr Bentor said there had been sufficient public education on the need for privately-owned commercial property owners to insure their property against fire, flood, collapse and any other risk since 2007 and expressed worry about the reluctance of some companies to comply. He said although the law exempted churches and government institutions from such mandatory insurance, they must also insure their premises to ensure the safety of all. Source GNA