Staff of Heritage Insurance arrested for allegedly issuing fake insurance stickers

February 4, 2020 5:37 PM

The Airport Police in the Greater Accra region has arrested some workers of Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited for producing fake insurance stickers at the Head Office of the firm.

Senior Manager of Legal Issues at the NIC

The arrest which was caused at the instance of the Special Investigative Unit of the National Insurance Commission (NIC) was upon a tip-off.

Speaking to the media, Senior Manager of Legal Issues at the NIC explained that, the Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited is currently under an enforcement action with a condition not to sell new businesses to the general public.

“It is instructive to note that the Regulator in the last quarter of 2019 published the names of regulated insurance entities in good standing, and one of the Companies not on the list is Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited.”

“Therefore, Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited’s continuous sale of new insurance businesses to the general public is in violation of the Regulator’s directive, thus the arrest and the case is currently under investigation by the Airport Police,” he added.

Mr Bio warned the public against dealing with Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited until further notice from the regulator.

“In their own interest and in the interest of innocent third parties, all those who have purchased various insurance policies from Heritage Energy Insurance Company Limited from January 2020 should note that their insurances are invalid, and therefore may be prosecuted if found by the appropriate law enforcement agencies as this Company does not have the mandate to transact new businesses with the public, as they have not even been set up on the NIC’s central Motor Insurance Database (MID) as a result of the enforcement action placed on them by the Regulator.”

The NIC Motor Insurance Database

The NIC’s Motor Insurance Database (MID) has been effective since January 1, 2020. The aim of creating the database is to curb the issuance of fake motor insurance to unsuspecting members of the general public, thus endangering lives and property.

This means that the NIC has stopped the issuance and use of the old motor insurance stickers, following the roll out of the electronic motor insurance sticker.

It is estimated that the insurance sector might have lost at least GHC325 million to fraudsters and fake insurance operators in 2018 alone.