By Bisi Bamishe
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has reiterated the Commission’s move to fully enforce the mandatory linkage of National Identification Numbers (NIN) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) documentation to all insurance policies.
Addressing the media at 21st Insurers Committee Meeting held in Lagos, the Chairperson of the Communication and Stakeholders Engagement Sub-Committee of the Insurers’ Committee, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu noted that the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Olusegun Omosehin in his remarks at the meeting highlighted the NIN enforcement even as she assured that no claims will be paid to organisation or individual whose NIN has not been updated.
The directive, known as a “No NIN, No Cover” regime for individual policyholders and a corresponding “No CAC, No Cover” requirement for corporate entities was aimed at sanitising industry data, strengthen compliance standards, and improve operational transparency.
The directive forms part of enhanced know-your-customer (KYC) requirements aimed at improving identity verification in insurance transactions.
According to NAICOM, every insurance policy must be directly linked to the policyholder’s NIN to ensure proper identification and accountability adding would apply to both individual and group insurance policies.
Under the new enforcement regime, insurers and brokers are prohibited from underwriting any risk unless the NIN of individual clients and relevant Corporate Affairs Commission documents for corporate clients have been obtained prior to policy inception
In a further tightening of compliance measures, NAICOM instructed insurance providers to reject outright any application that does not meet the documentation requirements at the point of submission.
For existing policies issued before the directive but still active without the required details, insurers were mandated to engage policyholders and update their records before the April 30, 2026 deadline, which has now elapsed.
The Commission emphasised that operators must work closely with brokers and agents to intensify awareness among customers, ensuring that policyholders understand the importance of complying with the new requirements.
