The National Insurance Commission (NIC), through the Ghana Insurance College (GIC), is in the process of training 10,000 youth as insurance sales agents.
The training, provided by GIC and sponsored by the NIC, is to serve as an agendum for job creation to ultimately lead to an increase in the insurance penetration rate currently under 2 percent.
Richard Okyere, Director of the GIC said the College has started a capacity building training programme for existing insurance sales agents of all insurance companies across the country.
The objective, he said, is to of equip them to be able to engage the insuring public more professionally and ethically. “This is a distinctive training module that integrates practice and ethics of the insurance trade,” he added.
At the maiden launch of training for the agents, Dr. Justice Yaw Ofori, Commissioner of Insurance, was confident that “an Insurance Agent who is equipped with business ethics and market knowledge will sell right, increase public trust which will lead to the growth of the industry.”
He said this, will ultimately lead to an increase in the insurance penetration rate which is currently under 2 percent but also to bring insurance to the doorsteps of people in a more professional manner.
Justice Peprah, Western Regional Manager of NIC explained to the agents that “all material facts whether favorably or unfavorably to prospective policyholders before they sign the policy. Under no circumstance should an agent give false information or withhold information just to lure a prospective client to sign a policy,” he said.
“Most commercial contracts are subject to the doctrine of (caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) but insurance contract is different. An insurance contract is a contract of utmost good faith. Every circumstance is a material fact that will influence the judgment of an ordinary person to take an insurance policy,” he added.
The insurance agents were happy since this is the first time such a programme has been organized outside the regional capital for them. They expressed their gratitude to the NIC and GIC for such a thoughtful programme.
