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Traders advised to take local freight insurance covers
Mr Charles Kareba, the chairperson of the Council, speaks during the interview in Kampala last week. Photo BY STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
Comment. Insurance authority says there is need to sensitise traders on benefits.
KAMPALA. The Uganda Shippers’ Council has advised importers and exporters of goods to start taking local Freight insurance covers to minimise costs they incur when their goods are lost while in transit.
Speaking to Daily Monitor last week, Mr Charles Kareba, the chairperson of the Council, said many importers and exporters are blindly paying numerous freight insurance charges because they are not engaging clearing and forwarding agents for technical advice of what to pay for.
As a result, he said prices of the imported goods become exorbitantly high when the goods finally reach here which discourages some traders from business resulting in closure.
“Why insure with foreign insurance companies? How will you know that the goods were insured in the first place? How will you know that all the risks were insured and why should you allow the supplier to negotiate for you the insurance and freight charges,” he wondered.
According to Mr Kareba, between 2009 and 2011, the shipping community within the East African region lost Shs3 billion in Insurance covers paid out to foreign insurance firms.
“When you take insurance with a local firm, it is easier to deal directly with them because their physical addresses are known. What happens if a foreign firm wound up business and relocated elsewhere,” he asked.
He blamed the state of affairs on lack of an Insurance training institute to train professionals in the area which he said has given room for masqueraders to operate as insurance experts.
When contacted, Ms Mariam Nalunkuuma, the Public Relations Officer of the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), said the authority is working with Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to sensitise the traders about the benefits of taking local cover.
“Section 3.d of the Insurance Act states that no person other than an insurer registered in Uganda, will issue insurance policies for goods imported from other countries and we are working with Uganda Revenue Authority to sensitise the importing community to comply with law,” Ms Nalunkuma said yesterday.
She added that IRA would like URA to enforce the law because many importers incur unnecessary costs when their goods get lost along the way as they try to trace for them.
