The Nation Newspaper

Category: Insurance

  • FBNInsurance gets World Global Finance award

    For the second time in three years, fast-growing life insurer, by World Finance, organisers of the prestigious World Finance Global Insurance Awards has announced FBNInsurance Limited, as the Best Life Insurance Company in Nigeria.

    In a statement by the Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, FBNInsurance, Elizabeth Agugoh said the recipients of this year’s World Finance Global Insurance Awards are made up of the most impressive names in the business, and as governments around the world attempt to stimulate their economies through fiscal reform.

    She said according to the organisers, they pay tribute to the insurance firms doing their bit to restore order. “The organiser’s judging panel boasts of over 230 years of financial and business journalism, supported by a research team that works round the clock to ensure our award winners are the most deserving in their sector.

    “They credited the awards to FBNInsurance commitment to a well-defined, people-focused corporate strategy. As a local player with continental affiliations, we understand the mindset of the average Nigerian towards insurance. This is why we have employed the most effective strategy to cut through the bias and apathy holding back the market to become one of the nation’s most trusted insurers. We are delighted to win this award again; it shows we are doing many things right.

    “It will be recalled that FBNInsurance won the Best Life Insurance Company in Nigeria accolade at the 2014 edition of the awards. Earlier this year, the company was named the Insurance Company of the Year by inspenonline, an online insurance and pension news platform,” she said.

  • CHI pays N1.28b claims in nine months

    CHI pays N1.28b claims in nine months

    Consolidated Hallmark Insurance PLC (CHI) paid N1.296 billion claims to its customers in the first nine months of the year.

    Its Managing Director, Eddie Efekoha, who made this known in a statement in Lagos, said the firm was  excited about payment. He said the fund was expended on the claims during the month ended September 30, 2016.

    Efekoha, also the chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), said the amount paid  represents a 43 per cent increase over the N902,208,592 paid out by the company during the corresponding financial period in 2015.

    He added that this is a trend in line with the prompt claims settlement disposition of the underwriting firm, and assured its clientele of the firm’s best in customer service delivery culminating in prompt claims settlement.

    He further disclosed that there was a modest rise in net underwriting income of the firm from N2.558 billion in 2015 to N3.02 billion as at close of business on September 30, 2016.

    The 18 per cent increase after provisions for reinsurance expenses, commissions and fees is attributable to astute management of the firm, in spite of the prevailing economic situation in the country, which has seen premium rates remaining stagnant or reducing while inflation spirals to double digit. Consolidated Hallmark achieved a gross premium Income rise of N4.88billion when compared with the N4.65 recorded during the nine months period of 2015, he said.

  • Insurance regulation’ll remain stringent, says NAICOM

    Insurance regulation’ll remain stringent, says NAICOM

    •Warns distractors

    Insurance regulatory body, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has said it will not be deterred in its quest to sanitise the insurance industry.

    This is coming on the heels of allegations of fake Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London (ACII) qualification against the Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari.

    This is contained in a statement by the Head Corporate Affairs, Rasaaq ‘Salami, in Lagos. He said the allegation was made by unscrupulous elements represented by faceless persons  around the industry.

    He said: “Our attention was drawn to recent circulations on the authenticity of the ACII qualification of the Commissioner for Insurance by an obscure collection of faceless persons called Concerned Insurance Professionals. From our conclusion, this allegation is a baseless misinformation aimed at maligning the reputation of the commissioner.

    “The commissioner will continue to do his best to sanitise the industry in spite of the many distractions by unscrupulous elements as represented by faceless persons. It is perhaps, those unhappy with his dogged fight against unprofessional conduct in the industry that are on this misguided mission to discredit his good intentions.”

    To buttress the point of the commission, two insurance professionals, Omotayo Dada and Olugbenga Falekulo said they were classmates and housemates of Mohammed when he attended the Glasgow College of Technology, Glasgow, UK now Caledonian University.

    “We wish to aver that it is an incontrovertible fact that Kari is a renowned insurance practitioner of many years’ experience and has been an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, London since 1987. We would have expected the so-called Concerned Insurance Professionals to see the futility in their mischievous propaganda, after our institute, the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) released the evidence of Mohammed’s professional certificates.

    “They have instead continued in a hatred-ridden mission with a view to deluding the unsuspecting public into believing false and spurious allegations. We hope this will put to rest the distraction which the industry can least afford in view of the already bad publicity it is getting from other sources.

    “Institutions around the world offer courses and training for students sitting for Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) examinations but certification are only issued by the institute on completion and election to successful students. The same applies to students who may have pursued their qualification in other institutions or by private studies. Because the intention of these faceless persons was a sinister mission, they chose to ignore this simple fact that nowhere in the profile referred did Mohammed claim he had obtained his ACII from the university or in 1984.

    “It is a common knowledge that the search facility on the CII London’s website would not show the details of a member who has opted out from the display of his detail. The following is conspicuously printed on the members’ search page. “If, as a member, you do not wish your details to appear, simply go to your profile and tick the opt-out checkbox. In this case, Mohammed opted to restrict appearance of his name in searches. If the group actually had good intentions, they could have formally contacted him for his PIN or contacted the CII, London for confirmation of his Associateship,” they said.

    Dada pointed out that the faceless group has the correct facts but would rather impugn the character of this recognised professional. “We can unequivocally state that we were Mohammed’s classmates and housemates in Glasgow and he is bona fide chartered member of the CII as evidenced by his membership card and a search at the CII. He has since removed the “opt-out” to shame the mischief makers.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • NIA prepares insurers for risk-based supervision

    In preparation for the implementation of risk-based supervision by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) is planning a workshop to build capacity and enhance insurers’ understanding of the concept.

    This was made known by the NIA Chairman, Eddie Efekoha at a workshop on risk-based supervision in Lagos.

    Efekoha said NAICOM had begun consultations to build consensus among insurance players, noting that this is commendable.

    According to him, Alexander Forbes was at the workshop and has contributed to the development of the Nigerian insurance market and most importantly, the enhancement of the skills and competencies of NIA members in the area of risk based supervision and by extension, risk based capital.

    He said: “Risk-Based Supervision (RBS) is gradually becoming the dominant approach to regulatory supervision of financial institutions around the world. It is a comprehensive, formally structured system that assesses risks within the financial system, giving priority to the resolution of those risks.

    “Often contrasted with rules-based regulation, it is also known as principles or compliance-based supervision;  a method of regulation which involves checking for and enforcing compliance with rules and legislation, regulations or policies that apply to an entity. RBS has a regulatory emphasis of focusing on what matters,  assessing the degree of risk in the company’s business operations and determining how to reduce the risk as required.

    “With RBS, entities are always being monitored both for compliance with the rules and for how they approach risk management. This programme is intended to address some of the key issues that will help improve our understanding of the subject matter of discussion,” he said.

  • Brokers urged to boost penetration in up-country

    •New FRC code threat to brokers, says NCRIB

    Insurance brokers need to expand their operations beyond the commercial cities of Nigeria to up-country locations to boost penetration, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mohammed Kari, has said.

    Kari stated this at the Insurance Brokers Conference and Exhibition at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

    He urged brokers to shift their focus to  states and  local governments  that are without the presence of any insurance institution.

    According to him, one of the primary future goals of NAICOM is to have more informed insurance consumers in the system and as it has been noted at many fora, there exist information gap between the insurer and the insured.

    He said the task of the insurance broker should go beyond the collection of premium, claims’ cheque where applicable and forwarding of renewal notices, noting that conscious effort should be made by brokers to bridge the information and knowledge gap between the provider and the consumer.

    He said: “The insurance sector will benefit the economy only when high penetration is achieved. I dare say that high penetration cannot be achieved when most providers concentrate their operations in the commercial cities of Nigeria. Many local governments and even some states are without the presence of any insurance institution. This provides all the space the so-called quacks need to shine. This obviously does not help the penetration of insurance in the country and does not promote future growth of the industry.

    “What we have noticed is that while on one hand, the insurance service providers hardly explain enough what they sell the contract document, on the other hand, the policyholders neither read nor ask questions about the contract document of what they buy. So, the insurance broker is well positioned to bridge this gap.

    “The brokers could even take it a step further. With good understanding and proper arrangement, brokers could actually enter into partnership with insurance companies to represent their interest in up-country locations. The practice of all brokers chasing the so-called “juicy” government accounts should be discouraged. It is not helping the growth of the industry, while at the same time it has attracted unpalatable publicity.”

    The commissioner stressed that demonstration of professionalism is a necessity in insurance business.

    “When it is convenient we argue that our trade is a professional undertaking, but we operate as limited liability companies with shareholders or investors who are not trained in insurance but control our policies and operations. High professional ethics, moral standards and discipline is expected of professionals and that is what we must give to gain that professional respect. We have to take the bull by the horns and exorcise the bad spirit within us. The future market will certainly belong to that broker who has worked hard enough to secure the trust and loyalty of the consumer today.”

    NCRIB President, Kayode Okunoren in his speech said the newly released Code of Corporate Governance by the Financial Reporting Council is a threat to broking firms and the industry as a whole.

    He said although they are all aware of the need for strong corporate governance rules in ensuring sanity in business, the application of the rules with regards to the position of CEOs of insurance broking firms who have more than eight members of  staff in their companies would do the economy no good.

    “We like to reiterate here that insurance broking firms are professional institutions like the law firm, or the accounting firms, where services are personalised or based on the expertise of a few professionals within the organisation. We have instances where there are just two to three core insurance professionals in some broking firms, but with more than 15 support or non-technical staff.

    “Asking the Managing Director or and the Executive Director to leave such companies on the attainment of 10 years in office will create a big vacuum as well as threaten the continual existence of such firms. Moreover, we must come to terms with the fact that the insurance industry is still quite fragile and challenged by insufficient manpower.

    ‘’It is the hope of our council that the FRC would continue to be open to more constructive dialogue that would further make the rules more amenable to change or moderation, in view of the peculiarity of the Nigerian economy,” he noted.

     

  • NAICOM sacks ‘fake directors’ from firms

    NAICOM sacks ‘fake directors’ from firms

    •Recovers N66m looted cash

    The regulatory order placed on Goldlink Insurance Plc and International Energy Insurance (IEI) and others by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is yielding results.

    The commission has booted out some directors from the companies.

    Similarly, the Commission claimed that a particular chairman returned N66 million cash looted from a risk bearing firm.

    Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari who spoke with reporters in Gombe, Gombe State, said parties that engaged in corrupt practices would be reported to anti-graft agencies for prosecution.

    He said shareholders who looted shares without paying for them had  been dragged to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    He alleged that at Goldlink Insurance, some shareholders acquired claims without paying, adding that genuine shareholders of the companies have been identified.

    He said: “There are two types of interventions. These are direct intervention and regulatory orders; the regulatory order of these companies is based on restrictions on their spending limit. We don’t involve ourselves in managing the companies. We ensure that they refer whatever they are spending to the commission for approval.

    “In most cases, the technical issues like claims, reinsurance are not part of the issues they refer to us for approval and so technical order should not be a reason why any company will say our intervention is a problem to their operations. In the first place, a company falls under regulatory order because it is found to have violated significant issues of the regulation. Most of them have internal squabbles like corporate governance, financial or solvency margin issues and inability to pay claims.

    “Some of the companies are under direct order where the commissioner set up an interim management to look into the problems of the company. There was an internal squabble within IEI and the board of directors resigned from the board because of this problem. We set up an interim management which was empowered to conduct a forensic review and investigation into these companies.

    “The forensic review has done so many things that normal return inspection will not be able to identify. In the process of investigation, we also found that some of the shareholders of these companies were just shareholders by name. In the case of Goldlink, most of the shareholders acquired claims without paying for them. “Our position is that if you acquire share without paying for them, you must relinquish the shares voluntarily. So, if we did not do a share audit, we would not be able to determine the real shareholders. You will not be able to know that most of these so-called directors are just sitting there as majority shareholder and they are not paying for them.

    “We have collaborated with other regulatory bodies like Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because most of these issues are corporate governance issues, relating to the ownership of these companies.

    “We relate with them to have meetings and engagement to find a way to cover for the unpaid shares where it is possible and also refer some of these cases to relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that the issues are properly addressed.”

    On whether or not the Commission will bail out the embattled companies like it was done with banks by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Commissioner said NAICOM cannot bail companies out under insurance arrangement.

    “Our law does not empower us to do that. Even the bailout, we always look at how we make these companies to bail themselves out because before you talk about bailout, the company must be able to bail itself out. In doing that, all the process of recovery of stolen funds must be returned. We have seen the problem of bailout where AMCON is trying to recover all these monies. Nigerian economy should not be used to fund financial recklessness of some people,” he added.

  • Royal Exchange gross premium grows by 22%

    Royal Exchange gross premium grows by 22%

    Royal Exchange Plc has announced a 22 per cent growth in its Gross Written Premium from  in the first nine months of the year from N8.87 billion to N10.82 billion as at September 30.

    Its Group Managing Director, Alhaji Auwalu Muktari, disclosed  while speaking on the third quarter results.

    Muktari, who said the result had been announced on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said the company achieved this growth in the 2015/2016 financial year.

    He said the Group witnessed an increase of 15 per cent growth in its Gross Premium Income from N8.19 billion to N9.38 billion.

    He said: “Net claims paid to Royal Exchange clients grew marginally by four per cent from N2.43 billion to N2.52 billion for the third quarter.  Net income for the period amounted to N2.67 billion, with a modest growth of 12 per cent over that of last year, which stood at N2.36 billion. Profit before tax grew to N274.60 million as at the third quarter of 2016 from N111.34 million achieved in the corresponding period in 2015, resulting in a growth rate of 14 per cent.

    “In spite of the economic recession, Royal Exchange was able to grow its business portfolio by focusing on the ever-growing retail insurance market as well as participating in large-ticket corporate transactions.The company witnessed growth along most of its performance indicators because the company focused more on its core business of insurance and implemented a cost optimisation strategy across all the subsidiaries of the group, which resulted in profitability and growth across the Group.”

    He added that the results  released showed that by focusing on the Group’s growth objectives set out at the beginning of the year, Royal Exchange will be able to continually grow its business portfolio and provide substantial returns to its shareholders.

    He said the firm will continue to focus its efforts on aggressive sale of its various products and services as well as sustain its cost optimisation strategy to meet the Group’s forecast in the year.

  • PTI gets Registrar

    THE Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun, Delta State, has got a new registrar. He is Mr Abubakar Sadiq Kwarbai Tanimu.

    In a statement, the institute’s Assistant Director Public Affairs, Brown Ukanefimoni, said the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Kachickwu, gave the approval for the new registrar on October 21.

    Tanimu, who is also the secretary to the institute’s Council, was born in 1958. A seasoned journalist, Tanimu worked with Triumph, Community Concord, Concord Group, Democrat and Kaduna State Media  Corporation, where he resigned as Acting Director, News and Current Affairs, to join PTI as Head, Corporate Affairs Unit, in 1992.

    Since then, he has headed Exams and Records and Pension and Insurance divisions of the institute. Until his elevation, Tanimu was PTI’s Chief Officer (Administration).

  • Kari, Osagie for Business Journal Insurance summit Nov. 17

    Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Alhaji Mohammed Kari has been announced as Special Guest of Honour at the Second Business Journal Insurance Summit scheduled for November 17, at Protea Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos.

    Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Director-General, Sunday Thomas, will chair the event while  Dr. Phil Osagie, JSP Communications Limited Global Lead Strategist, is the distinguished guest speaker.

    In a statement, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Business Journal, Prince Cookey, said the summit would be the single largest gathering of insurance regulators, operators, professionals, media and allied professions to examine critical issues affecting sustainable growth of the insurance sector in Nigeria.

    Cookey said: “Following the great success of the maiden edition of the summit, the 2016 event promises to be an even greater outing in view of the line-up of distinguished speakers, the topics for discussion and the enthusiastic response from stakeholders in the insurance industry.

    “The Insurance Consumers Association of Nigeria (INSCAN) and Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) will lead discussion at the Open Forum session.‘’

    Some of the topics for the summit include: The role of PR in growing insurance business in Nigeria; Consumers: Kings or servants in insurance; The importance of agents in insurance business; Retail-the future of insurance business in Nigeria; Driving insurance growth in Nigeria via strategic innovation.

    The theme of the summit is: ‘’Managing risks in a depressed economy: The case of Nigeria.’’

  • We don’t connive with vehicle owners, says NCRIB

    The Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) has denied allegations made by Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) that brokers connive with vehicle owners to evade motor insurance.

    The VIO alleged that insurance brokers connive with vehicle owners to evade insurance.

    NCRIB President, Kayode Okunoren said the allegation by the VIO could tarnish the image of brokers, adding that the VIO was ignorrant of the workings of various insurance arms in the industry.

    He noted that brokers are professional arm of the industry that acts as intermediaries between the insured public and insurance companies.

    According to him, insurance firms only provide covers and certificates  issued in the name of their firms and not in the name of brokering firms.

    He stressed that access to the Nigeria Insurance Industry Database (NIID), which the VIO referred to was strictly for insurance companies in the fold of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), and not brokers. Hence, no broker would have uploaded any policy on the platform, not to mention fake or expired insurance policies as alleged by the officer.

    He said: “Suffice to say that the NCRIB cannot undermine the importance of relevant government agencies in the enforcement of insurance policies, especially, vehicle insurance policy. To further underscore this, the Council, at one of its programmes invited Vehicle Inspection Officers as special guests to forge better collaboration between the two institutions.

    “We expected that if such allegation exists at all, the VIO should have used the avenue to address the brokers rather than misleading the public about brokers through the media. Nonetheless, the Council is and would continue to support the NIID because it is the only central record of all insured vehicles in Nigeria.”

    Last week, the VIO said at the Almond Insurance Consumers Forum in Lagos that brokers connive with vehicle owners with fake or expired insurance to quickly upload particulars of impounded vehicles on the NIID.

    Assistant Chief Vehicle Inspector Officer, Mrs Adeshola Adeboshin said this was unfortunate as they relied on the NIID through the use of a verifier, Auto Inspector, to verify fake and expired particulars.

    According to her, they use this medium without stopping vehicles to know if they had genuine particulars.

    She said all they do is input an upcoming vehicle plate number on the device and it brings up the vehicle particulars.

    She explained that they only stop vehicles that have fake and expired particulars while on patrol or at check points which include driver licence, chasis number, insurance certificate among others.