The Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) is defending its proposal for a 10% increase in motor insurance premiums, citing the high cost of doing business.

The proposed increment, initially set to take effect on February 1, was suspended by the National Insurance Commission (NIC).

However, industry players maintain that the adjustment is necessary to sustain the operations and enhance service delivery.

According to the Chief Executive of GIA, Dr. Kingsley Kwesi Kwabahson, the association is committed to delivering quality service.

He however warned that it will be difficult to achieve that if the premium is not increased to commensurate with the benefit to customers.

"We do not just talk about the 10%. We have increased the third party property damage limit by 33.33% and that emphasis should be made and it is in line with that objective of giving better service moving it from GH₵ 6000 to GH₵ 8000”.

“We thought there should be a commensurate way of charging so we achieve that objective. So the emphasis should be given to the better benefit that we are giving to our client other than the small increment that we are asking policy makers to pay" he said.

He emphasized that the customer must be adequately compensated hence the need to increase the premium to cater for the extra cost.

While the increment has faced some public scrutiny, Dr. Kwabahson insists that it is a necessary step to sustain the industry.