The Road Accident Health Insurance Scheme (RAHIS) floated by the Nigerian Union of Road and Transport Workers (NURTW) and released by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) may have been rested.
NURTW members have allegedly jettisoned the scheme, but passengers are still being charged for it.
Investigation at some interstate motor parks in Lagos, public and private, showed that owners of commercial vehicles are still collecting premium from commuters without remittance to insurance companies.
No premium, no cover
With the advent of ‘No Premium, No Cover’, collecting premium without remitting it means there is no insurance cover for commuters meant to have it under RAHIS.
At motor parks and booking offices of transport companies, passengers complete manifests with details of personal data, next of kin, and mobile telephone numbers, in the belief that they have insurance cover.
But it was learnt that Insurance PHB, one of the companies that underwrote RAHIS from inception, no longer provides cover for NURTW members.
Nwandu Ike of Insurance PHB corporate communication department confirmed that the memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was terminated in April 2012.
He said the NURTW did not renew the agreement that could have guaranteed cover for commuters in case of accident, which automatically annulled the deal with Insurance PHB.
However, two major transport companies on the Lagos-South East route claimed to have subsisting cover for their passengers different from the RAHIS scheme.
Senior staff of the companies said the insurance covers accident victims, hospital bills, and N50,000 claim for permanent disability or footing the funeral of a commuter.
But TheNiche could not confirm their claims as details of their underwriters were not available at press time. Also, checks with some underwriting firms could not support the claim.
RAHIS, which commenced nationwide on September 9, 2009, provides emergency medical insurance for registered members of the NURTW and their passengers and other public transport companies and their passengers.
Benefits
The NURTW appointed Healthcare PHB as the health management organisation to provide ambulance to take accident victims to the nearest hospital anywhere in the country.
The scheme provides cover for the driver and passengers whose names appear on the passengers’ manifest for the trip as well as ambulance with life sustaining equipment.
The benefits include call centres with 24-hour toll-free lines, provision of doctors and specialist consultancy, diagnostic tests (laboratory and X-ray only), medical treatment and hospital admission in the first week of accident.
There are cash benefits of N100,000 for permanent disability and N150,000 for death.
NURTW members can transfer to a specialist or provide network facility for further treatment, and have other benefits involving admission charges, surgical treatment, and physiotherapy.
Charge to passengers
Every union member is expected to register through a daily subscription by purchasing a scratch card from Bank PHB which value ranges between N150 and N500. This provides cover for the driver and his passengers in the event of accident on the day.
Immediately after introduction, the union added the value of recharge cards to transport fare.
Participating organisations include Insurance PHB and Niger Insurance (underwriters), Oval Integrated Services (consultants) and the defunct Bank PHB, (official bank).