To curb the menace of building collapse, the Lagos State Government in partnership with the insurance industry is putting modalities in place to implement and enforce Occupiers’ Liability Insurance in the state.
This is even as the State Government lamented that no fewer than 480 buildings had collapsed in Lagos State alone in the last 44 years.
Speaking at a press briefing at the end of a stakeholders meeting on compulsory insurance (Public Buildings)’ in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday, the Director General/CEO of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, said that Lagos State government will continue to step up its responsibility in ensuring that Lagosians are safe and protected through the implementation of the Occupiers’ Liability Insurance.
Mojola said: “There is need to enforce insurance of public buildings. Over 480 buildings have collapsed in Lagos State in the last 44 years. Many times when these dangerous disasters occur, government is forced to compensate the victims.”
Mojola noted that there is need to spread the importance of insurance, adding that, the Commission has the mandate to issue safety compliance certificates across board and one of the prerequisite is to have Occupiers Liabilities Insurance Policy.
He said the state government already warehoused data of most public buildings across the state, stressing that, none of these buildings would be issued safety certificate unless they procure Occupiers’ Liability Insurance.
For now, he said, the agency alongside the insurance industry will be having stakeholders’ engagement while raising awareness on the initiative, such that, when enforcement starts, nobody would be caught unawares.
On her part, the Director General of the Nigerian Insurers Association, NIA, Mrs. Yetunde Ilori said that Occupiers Liability Insurance covers third parties using a public building either on lease or rent. She said the owner of the property is to pay the premium to cover mishaps that may occur while third parties were using such facility.
Ilori said: “The Occupiers Liability Insurance policy covers both minor and major bodily injuries, death and other mishaps while using such insured properties. The insurance companies will take over such expenses, while in the case of death, the family of the deceased would be compensated.”
She assured Lagosians and the general public that the insurance industry has improved tremendously in claims payment, promising that, any claim arising from the Occupiers Liability Insurance, among other insurances, would be treated with utmost importance.