EFFECTIVENESS, EFFICIENCY, AND PROMPTNESS OF CLAIMS HANDLING PROCESS IN THE NIGERIAN INSURANCE INDUSTRY

This study was designed with the aim of investigating the effectiveness, efficiency and promptness of claims handling process within the Nigerian insurance industry. To this end, the researchers have been able to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of claims handling process and thus, examine its promptness in relation to the organizational productivity of insurance companies in Nigeria. The study employed a cross-sectional type of survey design. A judgmental sampling technique was employed and relevant data were gathered through the use of structured questionnaire. The sample population consisted of 107 respondents made up of some members of staff within claims department drawn from 33 insurance companies which were selected from the directory of member companies. The major statistical technique employed for this study was a One Sample T-test. Two hypotheses were tested in this study. The hypotheses tested in the study found that managing claims effectively and efficiently will significantly affect operational process in claims management and thus, promptness in claims handling processes does essentially assist in fraud detection and prevention. The study recommends that claims manager should put forward strategic plans to ensuring that insurance claims complaint files are properly kept, monitored and handled for needs that may warrant its usefulness in the future. Claims handling procedures should be promptly managed to avoid deficiency in organization’s operational objectives, and lastly, Government should ammonize their resources and technical knowhow with the Nigerian insurance industry in ensuring that insurance claims are well designed to curtail fraudulent claims experienced in the past.