Mr. Speaker, this Bill and this Report are so important and I believe all of us would support them.
Mr. Speaker, I am particularly happy about the setting up of the Motor Compensation Fund which fund would benefit people who previously did not have anything when they were involved in accidents.
Mr. Speaker, we are all aware of the term “hit and run”. Most of the time, victims of such accidents happen not to be able to get to those who hit them or those who cause injury to them. They suffer and at the end of the day they come out from hospital thinking that they may get something like compensation or claim, but they are faced with a situation where they do not even know the cars that hit them. The introduction of this fund, Mr. Speaker, is going a long way to help such people who find themselves in such a predicament.
Mr. Speaker, I remember vividly an
incident which happened somewhere in the 1980s, where many people travelling on a bus were involved in an accident and about thirteen of them died. Some were injured, but at the end of the day they had no insurance. This was so because the vehicle was uninsured. When they tried to access compensation they realized that the vehicle was uninsured and so they could not get anything. When appeals were made to those insurance companies they thought could help, they said that once they were not insured with them these people had no compensation.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say seriously that
this fund when it is established, should be so managed that its management should
be transparent. Because Mr. Speaker, in some instances, it is mostly those who are deprived, those who are in the lower income bracket, who find themselves in such situations. They come out from hospital, they might have even taken loans to get themselves treated, hoping when they get out of the hospital they would get some insurance, but most of the time they are left without any compensation.
Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the introduction of this fund is so good and all of us should support this Bill.
Capt. N. Effah-Dartey (retd) (NPP --
Berekum): Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this motion.
Mr. Speaker, insurance is a major
aspect of every economy and indeed, any economy that seeks to develop needs insurance because insurance companies take care of the risk aspect of all businesses. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, the problem we have in this country is that with some of the insurance companies when there is a problem and you want to make a claim after payment of premium and all your papers are correct, it is a long battle, a long frustrating battle; and you would end up wondering why you should even take an insurance policy in the first place.
Mr. Speaker, I think this law that we
want to pass, consolidating all the new developments, the new standards and making sure that insurance practice in Ghana is proper, is a good step we are taking in this House.
Mr. Speaker, I am particularly interested in the aspect of fire insurance. We have an existing law about the need for all public buildings to be insured against fire and I wonder whether we enforce it. We have the National Fire Service whose duty primarily is to promote fire protection of the society but, Mr. Speaker, because we do not enforce the laws and regulations on
fire insurance and so on, the Fire Service sits there almost unemployed, as it were. The problems we have is that every now and then one would hear fire has broken out at such and such a place and so much property is lost and cash is also lost.
Mr. Speaker, I think this aspect of the
Bill dealing with fire insurance for all commercial and public buildings is a step in the right direction.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I would encourage all my hon. Colleagues to support this Bill.
Mr. Kenneth Dzirasah (NDC --
South Tongu): Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the Bill and to reflect with satisfaction that the days when companies could not meet claims from prospective applicants is indeed over. They used not to meet claims due to sometimes bankruptcy, which resulted in insurance companies folding; but thanks to PNDC Laws 78 and 227 which ultimately led to the establishment of the National Insurance Commission to oversee the smooth running of the industry.
Mr. Speaker, to the extent that this Bill
seeks to introduce healthy competition among practitioners, it is most welcome. In my opinion the insurance industry is not expanding as one would expect. Whilst the portfolio of products may have increased over the years, my recollection of the establishment of a new insurance company dates back to more than a decade ago. Mr. Speaker, this is in contrast to the prevailing competition in the banking sector now, where in a matter of three, four years the number of banks that have come into our system has grown considerably. It is my prayerful hope, Mr. Speaker, that as a most congenial and enabling atmosphere is created for competition to thrive, the players in the insurance industry would take advantage to improve upon services
so that the insured would consider it a worthwhile exercise in taking insurance policies in the first place.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to support the motion.
Dr. Richard W. Anane (NPP --
Nhyiaeso): Mr. Speaker, the fact that a regulatory and protected framework is now going to be provided for the insurance industry, other than the National Health Insurance is commendable. But Mr. Speaker, I only have one small observation to make and that observation has to do with clause 129 -- the creation of a motor fund.
Mr. Speaker, I am of the view that
sub-clause (c) of clause 129 seems to be misplaced and therefore I want to suggest that a new subclause altogether should be substituted for subclause (c), at the appropriate time. Subsequently also, I am requesting that this new subclause (c) should make provision for part of this fund to be placed under the National Health Insurance to cater for accident cases when they arrive at the hospitals.
Mr. Speaker, if we have a fund that caters, without any discrimination, for all accident cases, then an accident victim would not be asked whether he has registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme before he is catered for. So these are what I want to give notice for, so that at the appropriate time the necessary amendments are made.
