The Nation Newspaper

Category: Insurance

  • Insurer to pay $3m to avoid prosecution

    A  Bethesda-based insurance company that gained advantage over competitors by allowing its employees to inappropriately access a federal Medicare database has agreed to pay the federal government $3 million to avoid criminal prosecution, according to the Maryland United States’ attorney’s office.

    According to an agreement with prosecutors, top officials at Coventry Health Care Inc., which is incorporated in Delaware but headquartered in Bethesda and provides group and individual health insurance to some five million members nationally, knew of the inappropriate use of the database and did nothing to stop it until a federal agency raised concerns.

    The agreement says employees with Coventry, which administers Medicare Advantage plans for some of its customers, or its subsidiary First Health Priority Services, in appropriately accessed the federal government’s database between 2005 and 2006 to obtain eligibility information for customers who had separately filed a worker’s compensation claim, prosecutors said.

     

  • CIIN holds induction Wednesday

    The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) is set to induct new fellows and associates into its fold on December 5.

    In a statement CIIN’s Director of Corporate Communication, Joseph Obah, said 16 fellows and 134 associates would be inducted at the event where the Commissioner for Education, Lagos State, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye would be special guest of honour.

    According to him, the fellows are Deputy President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Mr Ayodapo Ajayi Shoderu; a former President, Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), Mrs Folashade Onanuga; and Abubakar Sabin Bello of the National Insurance Commission.

    Others are Chairman, CIIN, Port Harcourt chapter, Mr Uche Aniago; Managing Director, UnityKapital Assurance PlLC, Mr Kins Ekebuike; Aremo Adeniyi Ogunsanya of Oriwu Insurance Brokers; Abidogun Ademola Ayotunde of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Adekeye Oluseyi Olasunkanmi of SCIB Nigeria & Co Ltd, Mrs Adekoya Adeyinka of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Akingbade Akinjide Ajao of Sterling Assurance Nigeria Ltd, Apampa Moruf of AIICO Insurance Plc, Mrs Arusiuka Adetutu of AIICO Insurance Plc; Duru Japhet Ogueri, International Energy Ins. Plc; Olabiyi Festus Idowu, AIICO Insurance Plc, Popoola Samson Olugbenga, of Hogg Robinson Nigeria Ltd and Sogbesan Gregory Olanrewaju, SCIB Nigeria & Co Ltd.

    Obah said a lecture entitled: The professional and nation building, would be delivered by Mr Wole Oshin, Managing Director, Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc.

     

  • Roche drives cancer drug sales with insurance

    Roche Holding AG (ROG) has found a way to sell cancer drugs to millions in China who couldn’t otherwise afford them.

    The world’s biggest maker of tumor medicines is getting together with re-insurer, Swiss Re, to sell a Swiss-engineered private insurance that’s on track to garner 10 million clients this year, says Harald Sprenger, Roche’s director of private insurance and market-access strategy in China. Both partners expect a 20 per cent enrollment jump next year.

    Roche Holding AG Chief Executive Officer Severin Schwan said, “We’re creating a market” in China.

    The collaboration between Roche and Swiss Re, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, is carving out a new business in China for private insurance aimed at cancer, a disease blamed in more than a quarter of the country’s deaths. Advanced tumor medicines can cost about 10 times an average Chinese person’s income.

    “We’re creating a market” in China, Roche Chief Executive Officer Severin Schwan said in an interview. “The biggest hurdle in emerging countries is access.”

    Roche of Basel, Switzerland, provides health data needed to set up the policies. Swiss Re (SREN), based in Zurich, does the statistical heavy lifting and then re-insures local insurers who sell the policies. So far about 6 million people have enrolled, Sprenger said in an interview. The goal is to have 12 million by the end of next year.

    “The old theory was that there are only two segments: there’s the rich, who can afford it, and there’s the poor who cannot afford it at all,” Schwan said in the interview in Paris. “Now what you have is an emerging middle class. This emerging middle class is able to make a contribution.”

    The cost of the insurance can range from about $50 a year for a basic product to several thousand dollars for the most complete coverage, according to Swiss Re.

     

     

     

     

  • Reforms coming, says Minister

    MINISTER of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, has said reforms were in the offing in the insurance sector to challenge the old ways of doing things.

    According to him, the reform will seek to promote ‘out of the box thinking’, to empower the professionals to log into international best practices and position the industry to play its pivotal roles in the economy.

    He spoke a lecture to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB).

    In a lecture the Managing Director, CKRe, London, Mr Peter King, said creativity and adaptation to clients’ needs are the panacea for promoting insurance broking in Nigeria.

    He said even though insurance broking has a bright future in the country, professionals must adapt to the changing trends in a global regulatory environment and pace up to the needs of the nation’s population.

    On the international scene, King said the world’s overall concept is changing dramatically towards Africa, portending that operators, including insurance brokers would face new and exciting challenges for which only fit, and ethically sound professionals would survive.

    He said given the huge international interest in Africa and the need to attract foreign investments, the international interest, a client or an international broker, must adhere to rules.

    “It is interesting to note that for many years, people outside Africa are looking towards the continent as a trading partner, which they believed have competitive advantage over the emerging markets in the Middle East and parts of Asia where political instability and terrorism are now endemic,” he said.

    King, who identified the merits of regulation to include protection of the practice of insurance broking and growth of business, protested over regulation, noting that it could discourage good brokers.

    In her welcome address, NCRIB President, Mrs Laide Osijo, noted that group has appealed to the government to assist the growth of insurance through its adherence to and encouragement of mandatory laws.

    She said governments at all levels should ensure the maximum insurance of their assets against losses, noting that some recent human and natural disasters in the country would have been taken care of if the government placed greater premium on insurance.

    In a good will message, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel, advised brokers to comply with the PENCOM Act on Group Life, noting that such would boost businesses for the operators and make them relevant.

    He advised the Council to assist its members in meeting new regulatory challenges, such as its counterpart, the British Insurance Brokers Association, which has well- laid out programmes for assisting its members to meet the requirements of the financial services regulations.

    Highpoint of the celebration was the conferment of fellowship awards on Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Governors Rauf Aregbesola and Olusegun Mimiko as well as the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Fola Daniel.

  • Why retirees’ payments are delayed, by IBTC chief

    IMPROPER documentation has been identified as the major cause of delays in retirement benefits payment.

    Managing Director, Stanbic IBTC Pensions Plc, Mr Demola Sogunle, said when documents are wrongly entered before submission, delays in payment of retirees’entitlements will become inevitable, adding that to avoid this, retirees must ensure during submission, the application, documents and other issues are ironed out.

    He said during the documentation, calculation is vital, arguing that most delays can be avoided if documents are submitted on time.

    Speaking in Lagos about the progress the firm has made so far, Sogunle said another factor that stands IBTC Pensions out is its robust IT platform which it leverages on for improved operations and service delivery.

    He said the firm makes use of the mobile electronic banking platform to introduce multiple remote access points for its clients to make enquires and check their Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) balances via e-mail, cell phones, short code and latest cardless transactions on Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

    According to him, the firm has become a reference point for similar businesses in West Africa and is aiming at becoming Africa’s reference point for pension management. To move forward, he said the demographics and institutional architecture of most African nations are much different from Europe, Asia and America so the mode of management of pension in Africa should be different too.

    Sogunle said IBTC Pensions is aiming at out-performing its past in terms of quality service delivery. “We believe there are many that could be dine better regarding turnaround time for payments, communication with clients and sensitising employers about the need to participate in the scheme,” he said.

    He ascribe the success of the firm to staff and its management team.

    Said he: “From inception, we have been fortunate to assemble a world class team of professionals and their ideas, commitment and energy are some of the key drivers of the business today.”

    On the management, he said the board and management have kept faith with the core vision of the business, adding that it is a vision founded upon convictions that avenues exist in Nigeria for wealth creation and preservation.

    He also said sound professionals exist who can midwife such portfolios.

    As a member of the 150-year old Standard Bank Group, Africa’s biggest banking conglomerate, he said Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers is backed by strong and sound financial clout which ensures the safety of clients’ investment.

  • Operators stall NIID project

    The Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID) could not start as a result of the unhealthy competition and inadequate data upload by underwriters, the former Chairman Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, has said.

    He said in an interview that the information uploaded so far by operators is inadequate to flag-off the initiative, adding that starting with the available data would cause embarrassment to motorists whose data have not been uploaded by their insurers.

    He said unhealthy competition and ignorance have deterred most operators from sending their information to the industry database.

    He said: “There is no need carrying gadgets all over the places, when the people you want to monitor are not ready. The level of information uploaded on our database is not enough. The NIA Director-General has been conducting checks with the database, and he has found that the number of vehicles on the database is nothing to write home about. So, if we give the gadgets to policemen, they would begin to harass motorists who even have genuine particulars.”

    Ladipo-Ajayi said the fault was not from the NIA, but from the practitioners who have failed to recognise the wisdom of uploading their data to the database.

    “I cannot explain why so much ignorance runs in the system. I spent two years as the chairman of the association explaining how to understand business issues to insurance companies, but the industry is blindfolded by stiff competition and cut-throat price war. We need some catastrophic events – market forces to send some parking and keep others,” he said.

    He noted that the NIA took six years to prepare for the initiative, adding that the implementation is clogged by fear and personal interest.

    According to a report by the Information Technology Committee of the NIA, over 550,000 motor policies had been uploaded by 42 firms, indicating that 18 firms are yet to unload their policy to the platform.

    The NIID project went live on September 8, 2011. Member companies commenced motor insurance policies data upload immediately and over a total of 550,000 motor policies records had been uploaded by 42 members underwriting motor.

    Selected members of the committee had been highly instrumental to the development, implementation and test running of the NIID system. Committee members had also been involved in training their companies’ branch officers, having undergone the initial train-the trainer briefing on the objectives of NIID.

    NIA said the benefits of the project include monitoring and authenticating insurance transactions documents, reducing incidences of fraudulent insurance transactions and policies most especially for motor and marine policies, reducing red tape and corruption by integrating with the vehicle registration system of the FRSC, the police and other relevant agencies and ensuring access to statistical data for effective decision making.

    Ladipo-Ajayi stated that the project will also help develop capacity in NIA to monitor and authenticate underwriting transactions with the industry and facilitate information sharing on stolen vehicles through technology-driven collaboration between relevant agencies.

    Director-General NIA, Mr Sunday Thomas, said the customised e-reader gadget to be used by security agents to verify vehicle policies, would be distributed soon.

  • Lasaco is first ISO-certified underwriter

    Lasaco is first ISO-certified underwriter

    • Posts N2.7b premium income

    Lasaco Assurance Plc has set a record by becoming the first insurance firm in the country to get the International ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System Certification issued by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

    Its Chairman, Edward Akin Leigh, at the certificate presentation in Lagos, said the company started the process in 2010, adding that in the past 18 months, the company’s staff, branch network, business processes procedures and practices, reports and reporting standards, quality policy and management, have been subjected to world class rigorous checks, analyses and various audits both internally and by SON’s audits teams.

    He noted that the certification conferred on the firm a unique competitive advantage and position-of-strength as it pursues growth and profitability.

    SON’s Director-General, Joseph Odomodu, said getting ISO certification was the only thing that could change business practice, adding that the more companies are certified, the better would be the economy.

    He noted that SON has decided that even the small and medium enterprises should benefit from being certified to boost their operations.

    He said: “It is more interesting that insurance companies are getting certified and I really want to congratulate Lasaco for being a premier among others. Their certification indicates that we are coming up. Other insurance companies should follow the step of Lasaco for with the certification, the company’s result would soon begin to show that something has changed, for the system is structured in such a way that it would help them to offer better services and once that happens, people would flock to where better results are being posted. ISO certification is simply ensuring that things are done properly.”

    The Managing Director Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, said the company would live up to expectation, to enable it to retain the certification, adding that the company decided to raise the standard in the industry by applying for the certification.

    He noted that the company is repositioning to remain atop in special risks, adding that the firm led a consortium last year to underwrite Nigerian satellite, an achievement which was uncommon.

    He said: “What we are trying to do is to carve a niche for ourselves in the special risks, without losing sight of the everyday insurance. Special risks are the type of risks that are denominated in dollars. They are international business; they give you a window into the international realm of insurance. You have an idea of best international practices. The major problems that Nigerian insurers face does not exist in special risk and that is to ensure prompt payment of premium.

    “In special risk, underwriters are empowered, and have the enabling environment to meet their obligations. Most of the problems of insurance companies of not being able to pay claims in Nigeria emanates from the fact that the premiums are not paid on time. But when you go to the realms of special risks, premiums are paid quickly; every obligation is met quickly, so when it is your turn, there is no excuse for you to drag your feet.”

    Lasaco’s gross premium income for last year stood at N2.7 billion as against N2.1 billion in 2010. The profit before tax was N478.91 million as against N249.65 million in 2010 while profit after tax stood at N213 million as against N249 million. The company paid total claims of N157.733 million in the 2011.

  • Insurer Old Mutual to acquire Ecobank’s insurance unit

    Insurer Old Mutual is set to buy the property and casualty insurance unit of pan-African lender Ecobank for about $20 million, it was learnt.

    The company, which aims at boosting its presence in the sub-Saharan Africa to cash in on the region’s strong economic growth, also said its German and Austrian life operations would stop writing new business as they no longer meet its investment criteria.

    Old Mutual has over the past three years sold businesses, including its Nordic life insurance unit to repay debt and dispel investor concerns that the group lacked focus and would be worth more broken up.

    Old Mutual had life insurance sales of 278 million pounds, in the three months to September 30, down 10 percent from a year earlier, and in line with the 2752 million pounds expected by analysts in a company poll.

    Non-covered sales rose four per cent to 3.76 billion pounds, ahead of the 3.2 billion pounds penciled in by analysts.

    Shares in Old Mutual, which quit its historic home of South Africa and listed in London in 1999, closed at 174 pence last week about 8.4 billion pounds.

    The stock has risen 27 percent in the past year, outperforming a six percent increase for the FTSE 100 share index.

  • Defaulters’ll be punished, says NAICOM

    The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) would continue to expose and sanction erring operators to serve as deterrent to others, the Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel, has said.

    He told The Nation that the commission would never sweep cases of errant operators under the carpet or shield them from sanctions, adding that punishment meted out on such operators are to ensure safety of policy holders and shareholders.

    Daniel said NAICOM,in imposing sanctions, gives priority to the protection of the industry, adding that it would not be disturbed by the outcry of highhandedness by some operators.

    He said: “I believe the public would want NAICOM to be like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as regards sanctions. The method of Central Bank is not a cap that fits all. It is not a medication that cures all ailments. The approach of Central Bank has its own merits, which is do it publicly let Nigerians be aware of what is happening. Of cause, the Central Bank was confronted with a different scenario that needed the remedy they applied.

    “The problem of the insurance industry is not exactly the same. So, we may not be able to borrow that medication to cure a different ailment. When you have diarrhea, you have to take drastic medica-tion to stop it, because it could embarrass you. Whereas, somebody who has headache would take panadol; two of them are medications, but are intended for different purposes. And the effects look different. So, we salute the Central Bank for what they are doing, but I want to confirm to you that from time to time, we sanction insurance operators and if it is important for the public to know, we let them know.

    “Our sanctions are largely remedial. What is upper most in sanctioning a company is the protection of policy holders. If I sanction an insurance company and put it on the pages of newspaperS, without obtaining a remedy, how does that help the policy holder? But if I can effectively sanction an operator and the interest of policy holder is fully served, that means we are doing the right thing. Let the Central Bank continue to do what it is doing; we have a different problems and different approaches in resolving the problems.

    “I assure you that we are not sweeping anything under the carpet or shielding any operator. As a matter of fact, for some months, I think there have been shouts and cries from the industry about the sanctions we have given to errant operators. We are acting as it becomes expedient and appropriate; we are not going to mimic any regulator so that the public will say we are doing something that would not be necessary.”

    It would be recalled that the commission, early in the year dropped its hammer on some brokering firms that failed to comply with the industry’s rules. It urged the public not to transact businesses with them until they are let loose of its hook.

  • ‘NAICOM to maximise opportunities in sector’

    ‘NAICOM to maximise opportunities in sector’

    The National Insurance Commission has promised to ensure the maximal use of opportunities in the sector.

    Commissioner of Insurance Mr Fola Daniel made this known at the inauguration of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) secretariat and a book launch in Lagos.

    He urged insurance practitioners to be united, adding that an achievement by an arm of the industry is a success for other operators.

    Daniel said brokers have made the industry proud by constructing a befitting office. He urged them to sustain the development entrenched by their founding fathers.

    He said brokers, who are over 600, should set the pace as they constitute the largest group in Africa.He lauded the contributions of past and present leaders of the NCRIB, which he said have helped to position the council for improved performance.

    Daniel also commended brokers for writing a book on insurance broking in Nigeria. He urged insurance practitioners to buy the book to update their knowledge, adding that it would help improve their performance.

    President, NCRIB, Mrs Laide Osijo, who was excited over the completion and opening of the office, said the council conceived the idea of having a befitting secretariat over two decades ago.

    She noted that its completion was a fulfilment of purpose, vision, and commitment of the founding fathers of the profession to bequeathe an edifice to the Council.

    She lauded the stride made by Daniel in creating a conducive environment, which encouraged brokers to uphold their financial commitment to the council. She also commended the efforts of the founding fathers and her predecessors in taking the profession to a lofty height.

    Laide said: “The erection of the NCRIB secretariat, has among other things, propelled our profession into a position of respect in the comity of other progressive professional bodies in Nigeria. Let me note, however, that there are still rooms for members to be a part of the success story of this building and etch their names on gold.

    “Historically, the idea of having a befitting secretariat worthy of the rising profile of NCRIB, which is unarguably one of the oldest professional bodies in Nigeria, was conceived more that two decades ago. It is, however, providential that the building is being completed and inaugurated during my tenure as the first female president of our great council.”

    Managing Director, Lasaco Assurance Plc, Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi, commended the leadership of NCRIB for making the industry proud through the completion of the office, adding that underwriters and brokers in recent time have been working together to reposition the industry.

    The President Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), Dr Wole Adetimehin, said the rift among insurance operators is inimical to the industry’s growth.

    He said the operators are loyal to the industry they belong to instead of working as professionals with a common stake.

    He called on the practitioners to have a change of attitude, adding that the industry could only grow when stakeholders show commitment to their profession.

    “We must shed this coat and put up a united front as one profession,” he said.

    He noted that the need for change of attitude and total commitment to the profession could not be over emphasised.