Most people in Accra hold exactly one insurance policy: the one the police check on their windscreen. That is the only cover most of them have been made to buy, and it pays nothing towards their own car.
Insurance here is regulated by the National Insurance Commission (NIC) under the Insurance Act, 2021 (Act 1061), which replaced the 2006 Act. This guide is the map: what you must have, what is worth having, and the rules that apply to every policy.
What the law makes compulsory
| Cover | Who must have it | The law |
|---|---|---|
| Motor third party | Anyone who uses a vehicle on a road | Motor Vehicles (Third Party Insurance) Act, 1958 |
| Commercial building | The builder, owner or occupier of a commercial building | Act 1061, ss. 218-219 |
| Public liability | Classes of business named in the Act’s Second Schedule | Act 1061, ss. 214-215 |
| Professional indemnity | Employers of the professionals the Act names | Act 1061, ss. 216-217 |
| Marine cargo | Importers, for goods coming into Ghana | Act 1061, s. 222 |
Two things follow for everybody, not just businesses:
- Imports must be insured in Ghana. Act 1061 says goods imported into Ghana, other than personal effects, may not be insured with an insurer that is not licensed here without the Commission’s permission. Importing a container of stock on a foreign policy is not allowed.
- A compulsory policy normally runs for 12 months (s. 220), so it has to be renewed every year.
— Motor insurance — Insuring a commercial building
What is optional, and worth thinking about
- Health cover beyond NHIS. NHIS covers a lot more than people assume, and private cover is what you add for the private hospitals. — Private health insurance
- Life and funeral cover, which is what most Ghanaians who buy insurance voluntarily actually buy, often through MoMo. — Life and funeral insurance
- Home and contents insurance for a house you live in. It is not compulsory for a private home, and fire is the risk most worth covering in a city where electrical fires are common.
- Comprehensive motor cover, which pays for your own car as well as for the people you hit.
No premium, no cover
Section 258 of the Act says an insurer may not issue a policy on credit, and a person who has not paid the premium has no cover. An agent who says “take the sticker now and pay at month end” is offering something the law does not recognise - and if you crash in between, there is no insurance.
Pay to the insurer or a licensed broker, get a receipt, and get the policy document. A sticker or a WhatsApp photo of a policy is not the policy.
Check the insurer first
The NIC licenses insurers, reinsurers, brokers and agents. Before you pay anyone - and especially an agent you met on social media - check them on the Commission’s site:
- Insurers: nic.gov.gh/entities/insurers
- Brokers and agents: nic.gov.gh/entities/intermediaries
- Check one name: nic.gov.gh/entities/verify
— Checking any financial firm is licensed
When something goes wrong
Claim promptly, in writing, and keep copies of everything. If the insurer stalls or refuses, the NIC takes complaints the insurer has not resolved, and it costs nothing.
— Making a claim, and complaining
Read the exclusions
The differences between policies are in what they exclude, not in what the brochure says they cover. Before you sign, ask for the policy wording - not the summary - and read the exclusions and the excess: the part of any claim you pay yourself. Ask the agent to show you, in the wording, that the thing you are worried about is covered.