Ho, Nov 16, GNA - Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of Asogli, said he has asked insurance companies to venture into business with people in the informal sector since they also need assistance in times of disaster.

He said the trend now for the companies to deal only with workers on government pay roll was not the best. Togbe Afede made the suggestion in a speech read for him at the commissioning of the refurbished office and insurance hall of the State Insurance Company (SIC) in Ho.

He urged insurance brokers to extend their services to self-employed workers such as shop owners and other petty traders. Togbe Afede suggested SIC should "Broaden its wings to these people through house-to house education on the importance of insurance". The Ho office refurbishment is part of SIC's multi-million cedis programme to rehabilitate and refit offices countrywide to raise corporate image and create congenial atmosphere for its clients. The project under which the Accra and Kumasi offices had already been refurbished is also expected to increase technical capacity of SIC and lessen turn-around time of clients.

Mr Daniel Soadzedey, Deputy Managing Director (Technical), said all SIC offices would soon be networked to make it possible for clients to access their policies from any office. He said SIC would adopt multimedia mechanisms and text messaging to prompt policyholders about due dates for payments. Mr Soadzedey said between January and October, SIC had paid 80 billion cedis as claims while in November the company had paid 30 billion cedis as claims mainly to claimants who lost property in the Tema Harbour fire incident.

Mr Mawutor Goh, the Ho Municipal Chief Executive, appealed to the SIC to develop the 40-acre land it acquired in Ho into an estate to help solve the accommodation problem of workers posted to Ho. Prof Isaac Mensah Ofori, SIC Board Chairman, appealed to workers to maintain the high corporate image of the company by placing premium on customer service.