Insurance Association of Malawi (IAM) has set 1st January 2025 as the day only digital motor insurance will be accepted on the roads of Malawi.
IAM introduced the digital insurance certificates in October 2023 and has set December 31, 2024 as the last day for motorists to use the pre-printed insurance certificates.
The new certificate is digital and is being issued online, with verification through digital processes.
IAM vice president, Wales Meja said in an interview yesterday, that they introduced digital motor certificates to address emerging trends like ensuring that all insurance companies use a unified system and database which makes data verification easier.
“It is also a way of supporting the initiative to digitise the Malawi economy, apart from eliminating fraudulent motor certificates through digital verification, and preventing forgery. The digital certificates also enable insurance companies, and agents to sell online 24/7. It also makes it easy for law enforcement agencies to detect stolen vehicles during spot checks.”
“The new certificates are also capable of integrating with other systems, such as Maltis, NRB, and banks, to make business transactions more efficient,” said Meja.
Meja, who is also Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Britam, then commended motorists for embracing the new digital certificates, but asked them to install a mobile application downloaded from Play Store or App Store, and also use USSD code *4273* to authenticate the certificates.
Mzuzu-based motorist, Gift Mnami commended IAM for the initiative saying it is fast and convenient to access the digital certificates online.
“This system enables us to access certificates online, significantly reducing the time and costs previously spent visiting insurance companies,” he said.
The digital insurance certificate, which is displayed on the windscreen, similar to the Certificate of Fitness (COF), has features like the certificate number, vehicle registration number, vehicle chassis number, make and model of the vehicle, vehicle colour, vehicle seating capacity, picture of the vehicle’s body type, insurance policy duration, policy issue date, policy number, policy holder, insurance cover type, and vehicle usage.
