Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc has announced the introduction of more retail products to meet the needs of the insuring public.

The new products are the Travel Insurance Card and Teen Personal Accidents.

The Executive Director, Technical/Operations, Law Union & Rock Insurance, Mr. Olasupo Sogelola, said the introduction of the two products was part of the company’s strategic plans to meet the needs of its retail customers.

He stated, “The Teen Personal Accident, otherwise called the TPA, was the company’s innovation, but has now been repackaged in four variants with premium ranging from as low as N500. The new variants provide customers with the benefits options, depending on the customers’ choice.

“The policy provides a cover for children between the ages of two and 20 years. The benefits include medical expenses and compensation for permanent disability resulting from accidents sustained by the insured child within and outside their school premises.”

According to the firm, the National Insurance Commission has granted approval to underwrite the Travel Insurance Card, a retail policy for regular travellers within Nigeria.

With as low as N700, it stated that a traveller would be covered against accidents that could arise while traveling by road, rail, water or air.

The firm explained that the product was in four variants of drivers travel card, passengers travel card, students travel card and executive travel card.

It stated that the policy benefits, including medical expenses, emergency care, accidental death and permanent disability, were expected to provide succour to the accident victims/their families and also reduce the level of uninsured economic losses from accidents in the country.

The company stated that in the last three years, it had released various retail products into the market, including Home Guard that provides cover for the house contents; I-Care; I-Salute & GPA 4 Schools, which provide different personal accident covers; and Doctor-on-Cover, a professional indemnity policy for medical practitioners.

“These products are being distributed through state-of-the -art technology, which simplifies the accessibility and distribution of the policies through the company’s website, scratch card, PoS and agents nationwide,” it stated.

While expressing the company’s readiness to continue to provide cutting-edge services to its customers, Sogelola stated that Law Union & Rock Insurance would soon commence the distribution of worldwide travel insurance policy following the regulator’s approval to underwrite it.

Wapic Insurance grows PAT by 161 per cent

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

Wapic Insurance Plc’s has recorded a significant improvement as its profit after tax grew by 161 per cent in the 2017 financial period.

This was disclosed by the Chairman of the company, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, during the firm’s 59th Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

“Wapic Insurance has continued its run of superlative financial performance by impressively growing its post-tax profit to N1.5bn from N586m recorded in the corresponding period last year,” he said.

According to him, Wapic Insurance recorded growth across all business lines, leading to an increase in total revenue by 9.9 per cent to N13.6bn and a rise in gross written premium by 22.5 per cent from the 2016 financial period.

While briefing the shareholders on the 2014-2019 corporate strategic plan designed to reposition the organisation, he said the company recorded impressive feats on projects and initiatives that would help affirm its industry leadership.

He said, “In the areas of governance and strategic implementation, we have successfully concluded most initiatives. Our digital transformation is the next game-changer that will sustain our quest to create value for shareholders and deliver excellent services and enjoyable experience to customers.”

Under the strategic digital revolution, he said Wapic Insurance acquired a new core operating system — ‘WapX’ — from Asseco, a leading Information Technology company in Poland.

Mutual Benefits Assurance settles N5.15bn net claims in 2017

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc. has settled net claims worth N5.15bn for the financial year ended 31st December 2017, this indicated a 54 per cent growth when compared with 2016 figure of N3.35bn .

The equally recorded a profit after tax of N1.02bn within the period under review compared to a loss of N1.35bn in 2016.

According the firm, its gross written premium rose by 16 per cent from N12.14bn in 2016 to N14.03bn in 2017.

The company’s underwriting income also grew by 10 per cent to N11.78bn in 2017 from N10.70bn in 2016.

Commenting on the results, the Chairman, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, said, “Despite the tough business environment, we have been able to bounce back to profitability and delight our shareholders. Dividend of two kobo per share will be paid to our esteemed shareholders who have stood by us over the years.

Speaking on the claims paid, the Managing Director, Mr. Segun Omosehin, said, “This is an attestation to our firm resolve to consistently honour our obligations to our esteemed customers while improving our claims administration processes and procedures.”

The company also stated that it recorded a 27 per cent increase in gross premium written of N4.75bn from N3.75bn during the first quarter of 2017, and a 4.22 per cent increase in net premium income from N3.71bn in the first quarter of 2017 to N3.87bn in the first quarter of 2018.