Insurance Marketing, Customer Service and Ethics
This domain tests how insurance is sold and serviced in Nigeria and the ethical standard the CIIN expects of a member. Questions are scenario-based: identify the breach, name the duty, state the remedy.
Distribution and the mix
Channels include tied agents, brokers, bancassurance, direct and digital channels, microinsurance and Takaful. The services mix - product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence - matters because insurance is intangible, credence-based and often bought reluctantly. Segmentation by income, occupation and risk profile drives product design; microinsurance must fit low, irregular incomes.
Conduct rules that carry marks
- Suitability and fair treatment: recommend what the client needs, not what pays the highest commission. Churning a whole life policy purely for commission is mis-selling.
- Disclosure: explain exclusions, waiting periods, the duty of disclosure and the no-premium-no-cover rule before signature.
- Confidentiality and data protection: client data must not be shared or sold under Nigeria's data protection law.
- Conflicts of interest must be declared, and broker remuneration and insurer incentives must be transparent.
- KYC and anti-money laundering: verify identity and source of funds, and report suspicious transactions.
- Complaints: log, acknowledge and resolve within the licensee's published timeline; escalate to NAICOM if unresolved.
Worked example
An agent sells a 20-year endowment with a heavy premium to a 58-year-old trader on irregular income who asked for cover against dying too soon. The need is term assurance; the endowment locks up cash and the premium will likely lapse. The agent has breached suitability and fair treatment, and the client's route is the insurer's complaints unit, then NAICOM.
Traps
Treating a signed proposal form as proof of disclosure. Discussing a client's claim with a relative. Assuming the highest-commission product is the better recommendation.