THE ROLE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NIGERIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Insurance has been defined as an economic device whereby the risk of people and economic enterprises are transferred from an individual to a group.  In the process, the individual pay’s a fee known as the premium to the group for the assumption of risk.  In the evidence of the contract of risk assumption, the group issued a document known as the insurance policy to the individual.

The total of the fee paid to the group by the policy holder constitutes the fund or pools from which losses of individual members of the group are paid.  The group is known as the insurer, while the individual is referred to as the insured.

The insurance industry, from all indications plays a vital role in Nigerian economic development as well as in the problem of risk management in Nigeria.  It is very obvious that the majority of public who are ignorant of the contributions made by insurance industry have more faith in the banking or other financial industries.  But these people forget the fact the baking institution acknowledges the fact that the insurance companies contribute significantly to the development of the economic of the nation, and this is why the banks insist on their costumer insuring the loans collected from them.  The establishment of NDIC to help curb the rate of distress bank is another measure to show that the role of insurance is very vital to economic development.

The government has since, also seen the important of the insurance institution in risk management and development.  Because of these the government has made some insurance policies compulsory in Nigeria.  As can be seen in various insurance acts that every or any motor owner must have one of the various insurance covers available in motor insurance in the country.  The government had also made it compulsory that all her big buildings, must be insured against fire.