Vanguard Assurance has launched the first digital fire insurance app in Ghana to ensure swift payment of claims to policyholders. The app is meant to eliminate bottlenecks that undermine prompt settlement of fire insurance claims.   Speaking to JoyBusiness at the event, Vice Chairman of Vanguard Assurance, Dr Gideon Amenyedor said, “Insurance is a promise to pay claims when specified unfortunate events do happen; the value of an insurance policy to an insured is measured in terms of the claim payment.  The swifter the claim is and the insured is compensated, then he feels that he has got value for money. So it’s not just a piece of paper that he takes along called the insurance policy. If that policy is issued so fast, then he’s happy at the interim,” he said.  He added, “But there’s a claim and there’s the burden of bringing one document after the other, fulfilling one righteousness after the other and the claim itself is delayed because of all those requirements then he doesn’t see benefits and this has been the case in Ghana that’s how come a lot of people shy away from insurance and the insurance penetration continues to be below 2%” Benefits  Dr Amenyedor said, “When you download the Vanguard App, there’s a menu which shows you ‘Fire Policy’. Whenever there is a fire at your home, you click on that menu. It will send an instant notification to Vanguard Assurance and the Fire Service at once.” With this app, there is also no need for notification of the claim. What this means is that the policyholder, in an event of a fire claim, does not need to fill a fire claim form or submit same for compensation. “So by this way the Fire Service comes to your rescue together with the Vanguard team. And when they come, they quench your fire and because Vanguard Assurance has been on the premises at the same time and has got this SOS message, there’s no need for any further notification,” he said. The app will help with facilitating fire service report. The insured would not be required to submit a fire report. This would be absorbed by the insurance company. Dr Amenyedor said, “The second thing is that because Fire Service has also joined in simultaneously, Vanguard will follow up and get the Fire Service report for you so you don’t have to go through that process.” He lauded the National Insurance Commission (NIC) for its resolve to establish a cap for injury and death claims. Dr Amenyedor is optimistic it would bring sanity and trust into the settlement of third party bodily claims. Undue delay in payment of claims has been one of the challenges confronting the Ghanaian insurance market – a development that has demotivated individuals and companies from insuring assets. Usually, in the event where fire has engulfed an insured property, the insured must first fill a fire claims form, attach certain documentary evidence like Fire Service report, photographs of damaged insured properties, among others before submitting the claim.  More so, after receipt of the claims form and attached documents by the insurance company, the company then sends Risk Assessors to the accident scene to assess damaged insured properties which usually takes some days or sometimes months before the claim is settled.