Digital insurance certificates to curb misuse of vehicles

AKI general insurance business head Birian Akwir during a meeting with senior traffic police officers in Nairobi after introducing the new digital certificated at Crowne Plaza hotel in Nairobi January 28, 2020. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU  

By PATRICK ALUSHULA
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Summary

• The certificates allow police officers to have a real-time confirmation of the authorised use of an insured vehicle as well as passenger capacity.
• This contrasts with the previous situation where the validity of insurance licence, purpose insured for and number of authorised passengers required a long time to verify.
• AKI wants to eliminate all pre-printed motor insurance certificates by March, a move that will also help to cut costs and also curb fraud.

Motorists who use vehicles for purposes different from that disclosed in the insurance cover risk arrest as new insurance certificates introduced Wednesday will make it easier for traffic police officers to detect the offence.

The certificates by the Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) now allow police officers to have a real-time confirmation of the authorised use of an insured vehicle as well as passenger capacity.

This contrasts with the previous situation where the validity of insurance licence, purpose insured for and number of authorised passengers required a long time to verify.

AKI senior manager in charge of general insurance business Birian Akwir said the new certificates have also incorporated new developments such as taxi-hailing firms.

“The digital certificates will help deal with that. The motor vehicle commercial class certificate will, for instance, clearly tell you the passenger capacity,” said Mr Akwir.

“The old certificates were designed many years back and were only limited to what was prevailing that time. There are many changes away from just the four traditional classes and this had created a lacuna for abuse.”

For instance, a public 14-seater vehicle certificate will now bear the words “fare-paying passengers” to distinguish it from a private vehicle with a similar capacity.

The traditional classes were public service, commercial service, private vehicle and motorcycle. This had created room for the insured to apply for one insurance cover and use it for different purposes, leaving road users exposed.

Assistant superintendent of police in charge of road safety in Nairobi county Boniface Otieno said the new stickers will significantly cut the time spent authenticating validity of motor vehicle covers.

“Officers will easily confirm in less than two minutes whether the displayed certificate is valid or not. This will also help us know those using vehicles for purposes not insured for,” said Mr Otieno.

Traffic police officers have had to get in touch with insurance companies to ascertain if a certificate is genuine or not.

AKI wants to eliminate all pre-printed motor insurance certificates by March, a move that will also help to cut costs and also curb fraud.

But despite the digitisation strategy, the law still requires motor vehicles to use physical certificates displayed prominently on the vehicle’s windscreen.