The Managing Director (MD) of Hollard Insurance, Daniel Boi Addo has stressed the need for Ghanaians to be more educated about insurance companies and their policies.
The Managing Director, speaking on the future of insurance companies in Ghana, observed that less than one-third of the population know something about insurance and its policies. He therefore, advocated for education for the rest of the population.
“We haven’t really started. Only 30 percent of Ghanaians have an insurance policy and this includes all sorts of very micro products so Ghanaians need more education about insurance.
“Education is prime and it is important we give people a reason to take up insurance because it can be a life saver and for anyone who has made a claim before, you know what it means when the cheque comes at that time in your life”.
Daniel Boi Addo
According to Mr Boi Addo, it is important for insurance companies to give people a reason to trust what they are selling. He thus, noted, it can only be achieved through education.
“We must give them a reason to trust what we’re selling. A lot of our problems is just because people don’t trust us so with more education, we can make them more comfortable to buy insurance projects and also give them a reason to trust what we’re selling”.
Daniel Boi Addo
Commenting on using technology and apps to change the face of the insurance industry, Mr Boi Addo believes that with most of the upcoming apps, “if we give ourselves 5 years from today, those apps can sell insurance on a very broad basis and we won’t recognize the face of insurance”.
Moreover, the MD emphasized that, the future of insurance in Ghana is extremely bright and all that the insurance companies need to do is to keep going.
Also, Mr Addo charged persons who purchase insurance to ask exhaustive questions and be diligent. To him, most buyers of insurance do the purchases through third parties and end up blaming insurance companies if their claims are not paid to them.
“A lot of people have refused to learn about insurance and rather send their drivers and younger brothers to buy insurance on their behalf and some even do not ask any questions on what third party insurance is or questions on the package they are buying.”
Daniel Boi Addo
The Managing Director also shared his view on what he thinks is hampering education and decline in performance of some insurance companies. According to him, venturing into the corporate world, he expressed worry over the decline in corporate training for young graduates now entering the job market.
Mr Boi Addo further noted that, although cost matters in running businesses, he called corporate Ghana to bring the policy of training for young graduates to introduce them to their house style and stop describing them as half baked.
He also believed the era where children were shot down for asking many questions is past and urged parents to challenge their children to be curious.
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