The Nation Newspaper

Category: Insurance

  • NSE clears Goldlink

    NSE clears Goldlink

    GOLDLINK Insurance Plc has received a clean bill of health from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    This follows the response from Goldlink’s management to the warning issued by the Exchange to delist some companies from the NSE, including Goldlink, its Managing Director, Gbolahan Olutayo has said.

    He said this was contained in a  statement by the NSE on its website, which cleared Goldlink from the list of firms to be delisted.

    He said the NSE had posted the list of firms to be delisted on its website in September, last year and stated that 19 companies were regularising their books with the NSE to avoid being sanctioned.

    According to the NSE, he said, other listed companies that failed to take any or appropriate steps to regularise their books have been delisted from the Stock Exchange following the expiration of the deadline it gave before taking the final decision.

    He noted that with the clearance of Goldlink by the NSE, the company is reassuring its shareholders of its commitment to secure their investments in the company.

    Olutayo said all hands are on deck to ensure better returns on the investment of shareholders.

    He said the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM) has addressed all challenges confronted by Goldlink in the past, adding that  measures were in place to ensure that all requirements of statutory compliance are adhered to.

    Olutayo assured the shareholders that plans were in place to acquaint them with reports of efforts made  to reposition the company for effective service and better returns on their investments.

  • LASACO Assurance promotes four GMs, others

    LASACO Assurance promotes four GMs, others

    LASACO Assurance Plc has  promoted four general managers and 36 others to various cadres.

    The general managers are Mr. Akinwale Sofile, Finance &Accounts; Mr. Shobo Ademoye, Marketing; Mr. Oluyemi Samson, Technical and Mr. Olona Oladimeji, LASACO Life.

    The Group Managing Director of LASACOAssurance Plc, Mr. Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, explained that the company values its human resource, saying the prime factor in the accomplishment of corporate goals and has a robust laid out plans to ensure their continued motivation to deliver on cutting edge expertise.

    He said the promotion was carried out early in the year to motivate staff to consolidate on the strides the firm recorded in 2014, particularly in reversing negative performances the company had witnessed.

    He assured that the management would continue to give staff the attention they deserve. According to him, “Messrs Akinwale, Ademoye, Oluyemi and Olona deserved being elevated to the General Manager’s cadre having demonstrated great professionalism and leadership within the company and we have absolute confidence in their competence and skill to move the LASACO brand to the next level”.

    He saluted the resourcefulness sand diligence of other 36 staff that were also promoted, urging them not to rest on their oars. “With the challenge in the industry, we have to motivate and hold on to our best brains and hands,’’ he said.

    The feats achieved in 2014 could not have been possible without their dogged commitment to elevate the brand and the management took cognisance of their sacrifices and dedication,”, he added.

    The new General Managers, who were Assistant General Managers, have over 20 years each in diverse core areas of insurance and have held various positions at the company.

    They are members of various professional associations, such Chartered Institute of Insurance of Nigeria, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN),Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).

  • ‘Traders show apathy for insurance’

    THERE is apathy towards insurance by some traders, The Nation’s investigation has gathered.

    Of the 10 traders interviewed at the Ojuwoye, Mushin, and Ketu markets in Lagos, six said they did not believe in insurance, four said they did not know how to go about it while only one of them had an insurance policy.

    A trader, who simply gave her name as Blessing, said insurance is not valued in Nigeria unlike countries abroad where it is effectively run. Blessing, who sells cosmetic and beauty products, said most market men and women do not have enough capital to run their business successfully, needless say having an insurance cover.

    Michael Ojo runs a boutique store on Agonron route in Mushin market. For him, insuring businesses is a very good strategy because it ensures peace of mind such that if any loss occurs to the business, insurance companies will pay claims that will bring the insured back to business.

    He however said the problem he has is that he does not know how to go about it. ‘’I don’t have detailed and adequate information on how the insurance policies operate and the benefits I stand to gain,” he said.

    Adebayo Shobowale, trader at Ketu market, said he does not know how to get his business insured. Godwin, the only trader who said he had an insurance cover for his business, owns a phone store at Ojuwoye market.

    According to him, insurance help straders to trade safe but a majority of the traders believe they do not need insurance because their business is not really big, especially traders that sell pepper, vegetables among others.

  • IGI, NICON risk cancellation of licences

    IGI, NICON risk cancellation of licences

    • To pay N1.826m fine

    The operating licences of  Industrial & General Insurance Plc (IGI) and NICON Insurance Limited may be cancelled by the regulatory body, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), for failure to file their statutory quarterly financial returns with the Commission in 2014, The Nation has learnt.

    The Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, who stated this, said the submission of financial returns is mandatory in line with section 8 of the Insurance Act, 2003.

    He also explained that in accordance with extant laws, all insurers and reinsurers are required to, within 30 days from the end of each quarter, file financial returns as at the end of the quarter with the Commission, adding that failure by any company to meet this requirement constitutes a ground for cancellation of the insurer’s license in line with section 8 of the Insurance Act 2003.

    Daniel said that out of the 59 operating insurance companies, eight were yet to submit their financial returns for the third quarter of 2014, to the Commission.

    He listed the defaulting companies to include Anchor Insurance Company, Great Nigeria Insurance, IGI, NICON, Mutual Benefits Life Assurance Linited, Staco Insurance Plc, Universal Insurance Company Limited, and UNIC Insurance Plc, adding that there are five firms under regulatory intervention. The affected companies are Alliance & General Insurance, Alliance & General Life Assurance, Goldlink Insurance Plc, Investment & Allied Insurance Plc and Spring Life Assurance Plc.

    He said 46 other operating insurance firms filed their first, second and third quarter returns with the Commission.

    “As all insurers and reinsurers are required to, within 30 days from the end of each quarter, file financial returns as at the end of the quarter with NAICOM, late filing of quarterly returns attracts a fine of N5000 per day for each day of default.

    “An insurer who refuses to submit to NAICOM on, or before the end of the next quarter is deemed to have failed to render quarterly returns. All contraventions upon which penalties have been imposed in any accounting year are required to be included in the audited annual accounts to be presented at the annual general meeting of the insurer;” Daniel said, adding that in case of general insurers, the quarterly returns are expected to include: statement of premium transaction by class of business, statement of commission by class of business, statement of claims by class of business, statement of management expenses, quarterly balance sheet, revenue account, profit and loss account.

  • Anchor rewards long-serving employees

    Anchor rewards long-serving employees

    Anchor Insurance Plc has rewarded some workers and individuals who have contributed to the growth of the firm, its Managing Director, Mayowa Adeduro, has said.

    In a statement, Adeduro said the event was part of activities marking the company’s  25th Anniversary in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

    He said past chairmen and chief executives of the company were awarded and recognised for their dedication and selfless services to the company.

    He said the firm also recognised employees who have served the company for over a decade with awards and gifts.

    He said there was an inspection of the company’s building projects in Akwa Ibom State which included the upgrading and face-lifting of its registered office and the construction of a multipurpose six floor complex on a 1,500 square-metre piece of land in a commercial high rise location in the state capital.  There are also plans to let out more floors in these buildings to boost its income from investment properties.

    He said: “As part of the programme, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, who was the special guest of honour, was awarded and recognised for outstanding leadership, uncommon transformation culture and dedicated service to Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria in particular.

    “Prizes were also presented to the winners of the 25th anniversary essay competition for secondary schools.  The Winner, Saviour Okon Paul from State College, Ikot Ekpene went home with a cash prize of N30,000, while the school was presented with three desktop computers, exercise books and insurance text books,” it stated.

    It continued: “The first runner-up, Esther  Bassey from Uyo High School, Uyo got a cash prize of N20,000 while two desktop computers, exercise books and insurance text books was donated to her school, while the second runner, Favour  Okpo from Government Secondary School, Afaha Eket, Eket also got a cash prize of N10,000 and the school got a donation of one desktop, exercise books and insurance text books.”

    Adeduro assured that the company would continue to see its customers and clients as reason for being in business and ensure that  stakeholders enjoyed a pleasant experience doing business with it.

    Meanwhile, the Director-General, Nigerian Insurers Association and guest speaker,  Sunday Thomas, while delivering the anniversary lecture titled: “Sustaining infrastructural development and transformation initiatives of the nation through insurance”, observed that billions of dollars is spent yearly by the Federal Government to boost transportation, power, ports and terminals, and energy.

    He, however, said there is need to protect these huge investments through the risk transfer mechanism of insurance.

    He said: “The insurance industry has a key role to play in contributing to the nation’s economic growth as a risk transfer and management mechanism, growth driver for other sectors of the economy and a huge potential for direct and indirect labour employment.

    “It is a provider of long-term capital investment needed for infrastructure projects which will help drive a competitive, healthy and robust national economy.”

    The NIA boss said the potential of insurance as a mechanism for sustaining infrastructural development and transformation initiatives of the nation is huge.

  • Life insurance basics

    Assess your life insurance needs

    Thefirst step in life insurance planning is to analyze your life insurance needs

    • Before purchasing a life insurance policy, consider your financial situation and the standard of living you want to maintain for your dependents or survivors. You might want to ask yourself who will be responsible for any outstanding medical bills and funeral costs. What would happen if your family had to relocate or otherwise change their standard of living once you’ve died? The assumption of immediate death is necessary to determine the current life insurance needs for a family or individual.

    • Add in the longer term financial needs of the remaining family members, such as: children’s expenses, income for the surviving spouse, mortgage and other debt payoffs, college education funds and an additional emergency fund.

    Because life insurance needs change over time, your life insurance amount should be reevaluated periodically. Insurance experts recommend revisiting the coverage of your policy once every five years or whenever you experience a major life event such as a change in income or assets, marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, or a major purchase such as a house or business.

    In theory, you should have a declining need for life insurance as you age because fewer people remain dependent upon you for income support. Exceptions would be protecting a business entity or paying taxes on a large estate for heirs. If the purpose of buying life insurance is to pay estate taxes, then you’ll need permanent life insurance, which is in-force as long as you live and pay the premiums.

     

    Policy choices

    Life insurance policies are divided into two main types:

    • Term life insurance, which provides only a death benefit without any “cash value” (offering the least expensive cost per $1,000 of death coverage purchased).

    • Permanent life insurance, which has a “cash value” account in which a return-on-investment component becomes an often complex and expensive part of the policy (most expensive cost per $1,000 of coverage).

     

    Term life insurance

    Term life insurance is the easiest life insurance to understand: It provides death benefit protection without any savings, investment or “cash value” components.

    Term life insurance is available for set periods of time such as 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. With “annual renewable term life,” your policy automatically renews and premiums increase each year. Choose “level term insurance” if you want your premium to stay the same for the duration of the policy. Also available is “decreasing term insurance,” where premiums remain level but your death benefit declines over time. This is useful if you want to cover only a specific debt that decreases, such as a mortgage or business loan.

    As long as you pay your premiums, the company cannot cancel you.

    Term life insurance is a popular choice because of the long rate-guarantee periods. However, if you get to the end of your policy term and still need life insurance, you’ll need to shop for a new policy, which will then be priced based on your age and health status.

    Choosing an initial rate-guarantee period is easy: Match the period of time your dependents need your income to the available rate-guarantee periods. For example, if your children are young and you have decades to go on your mortgage, look at 30-year term life. If your children are leaving the nest and your home is paid off or nearly paid off, 10-year term might fit the bill.

    Other policy provisions that drive the popularity of term life insurance are guaranteed renewal and guaranteed convertibility.

     

    • Culled from insure.com

  • House passes bill to extend terrorism insurance through 2020

    Moving quickly after the Federal Terrorism Insurance programme expired on December 31, last year, the United States’ House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill to extend the terrorism insurance backstop until the end of 2020.

    The House tally was 416-5, with one member voting “present.’’ The legislation, which has strong support from the major insurance and risk management trade groups, now goes to the Senate.

    The program, which was created by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, died in the Senate at the end of last year because a lone retiring senator staunchly opposed agent licensing provision contained in the bill.

    The measure that passed Wednesday — H.R. 26, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Programme Reauthorisation Act of 2015 — is identical to a compromise measure approved by the House last month. The bill calls for extending the program for six years, gradually increasing the trigger for activating the backstop to $200 million from the current $100 million and gradually increasing the industry wide retention to $37.5 billion.

    The bill also would establish a new National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers that would streamline interstate agent licensing.

    Extension of the backstop was the top legislative goal of the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc., as well as insurance and producer groups, in the last Congress.

    The Senate last year had approved a bill that would have extended the program for seven years while retaining the current coverage trigger.

    But the Senate failed to take up the House measure before adjourning last month after retiring Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., blocked Senate consideration of the bill because he objected to the NARAB provision, claiming it violated states’ rights.

    • Culled from Business Insurance

  • Leadway pays N10billion claims

    Leadway pays N10billion claims

    Leadway Assurance paid about N10billion in claims in the 2013 financial year.

    Speaking on claims paid in the past by the company, she stressed that it has about 45 years of service in the industry and understands that the value of promise to customers is in the claims that it pays.

    “Industry statistics attest to the fact that we have the highest claims paid value and loss ratio that is far above industry average. For the audited financial year ended 2013 alone, we paid over N10.9 billion in claims.

    ‘’According to verifiable industry statistics from the Nigeria Insurance Digest of the Nigerian Insurers Association, over N6.1billion in claims was paid in 2012 for its General Business alone representing the highest in the industry, with the next highest payer paying N2.8billion.

    “This, indeed, is why we are in business. We will however not be coerced or maligned into paying an unjustified or fraudulent claim and will insist on our legal rights against any defamation of reputation.

    ‘’The industry is one that we are carefully building up with the help of each stakeholder.Therefore, there must be concerted efforts to ensure the growth of insurance rather than propagate further distrust and suspicion,” she said.

  • Anaemic growth warrants easy monetary policy, says Lagarde

    Anaemic growth warrants easy monetary policy, says Lagarde

    Accommodative monetary policy will remain necessary for as long as global growth remains weak, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, has said.

    With the global economy in a fragile state, central banks from Europe to China have cut interest rates in 2014, and the  possibility of printing money to buy government bonds looms large in some places.

    “Accommodative monetary policy will continue to be necessary while growth remains anemic, although we must pay very close  attention to the risk of potential spillover,” Lagarde wrote in an opinion piece for Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

    Six years after the 2008 financial crisis, the global economy risks falling into a prolonged period of slow growth and  scant job creation, Lagarde said, calling for fresh political impetus to activate measures agreed by G20 countries last  month.

    Lagarde said progress had been made in regulating financial services but that countries must now pursue reforms and improve banking supervision.

    She called for tighter control over “shadow banking”, or non-bank credit and off-balance sheet bank lending, and said more effort was needed to “fill the shortfall” of data on the financial sector and allow for better regulation.

    To rebuild public trust, the financial sector needs to change culturally and “behave ethically”, Lagarde said.

    A boost to global trade could help unlock investments in 2015, she added, saying she was confident that a worldwide agreement on climate change is possible by the end of the year.

  • CIIN targets NYSC members

    CIIN targets NYSC members

    The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) has set out plans to attract members of the National Youth Service Corps into taking its examinations to achieve the target of raising 5000 professionals.

    CIIN’s Director Education, Ayeni Ebun, who made this known said an initiative code-named NYSC-CIIN is one of the concepts designed to attract young people into taking the institute’s examinations.

    He added that initiative and others would help raise the number of professionals in the industry.

    He said: “There is a concept we called NYSC- CIIN initiative, which was designed to catch professionals young. Under the initiative, we hope to go to Iyanu Ipaja orientation camp of the NYSC in Lagos and the Sagamu NYSC camp in Ogun State to sell our products to the youth corp members.

    “We will organise a programme for them to educate them on insurance and they will be given certificates for attendance. We trust that by the time the youth corps members will be finishing with their services, we would have introduced them to insurance and would have some of them enrolled in our examinations.”

    He noted that the institute would also take the hunt to universities, adding that the drive to catch the young ones at the secondary schools level would also be intensified.

    “We are also undertaking student drive in some universities that offer insurance.  We called the concept Student Enrollment and Institute Promotion. We are to go to those universities to tell them the importance of insurance.”

    He added that they want them to know the importance of being an insurance professional, which is more important than just acquiring the degree in insurance.