“It is paramount to every insurer to pay claims as this is fundamental to our existence as a business. This principle is taken as a responsibility in our company and has inspired us to continually pay claims year in year out.”
This was the establishing statement of the managing director, African Alliance Insurance, Mrs Joyce Ojemudia (pictured) at the Members Evening event hosted by the company at the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers in Lagos today while profiling the claims payment in 2021 which she described as fundamental.
Ojemudia told the unusual gathering of brokers with the rear presence of four past presidents of NCRIB who honoured their invite, that claims paid in 2021 business year exceeded N7.59bn, “a substantial bulk of which were for annuity claims and the group life.” Demonstrating that its a match of its corporate obligation and unbroken policy she declares; “This shows an increase of over N590 million in claims payment in the prior year. As earlier stated, this is a clear confirmation of our unchanging commitment to paying genuine claims.”
A breakdown of the claims paid showed that annuity topped with N4.34bn followed by group life N1.35bn and coming after was individual category with N1.23bn. The remaining two are N626.48 million for Takaful and N25.17 million for esusu.
Now comes the claims paid for January 2022, and Ojemudia said “we have paid a total of N723 million in claims.” Leading is annuity, N368.78 million followed by individual life, N137.96 million, Takaful N28 million, while the respective figures for group life and esusu rested at N81.89 million and N7.3 million.
African Alliance CEO said the claims payment demonstrated strong reinsurance treaties, she comments, “Our claims efforts have been helped by strong reinsurance treaties with top reinsurers as our partners.”
On recapitalisation plans, she said, “The company injected about N14.4bn through assets conversion as at December 2020, this has indeed improved our shareholders fund considerably and increased our asset base.
“Furthermore, the company will be increasing its capital base through right issues targeted at significant shareholders in addition to getting new investors to buy into the company,” she cleared.
To get all options open, she said business combination would be activated “is our last resort in the event that the above plans are not adequate.”
On market expansion and product development she said the company is moving on all flanks, expanding into untapped regions with good prospects for life insurance and upgrading the dimensions of existing products like Esusu plus to have both a year-long plan as well as a two-year option, a direct response to customers yearnings and also, innovative term assurance which she said has “excited the market with its short-term focus and value addition.” On top of this is “Our self-service platform policy platform specifically for brokers as it concerns our term assurance product is up and running. We have also commissioned the deign of a new core business application which comes with a wealth of benefits.”
