SPEECH BY MD/CEO UNIVERSAL INSURANCE PLC DR BEN UJOATUONU AT THE MEMBERS’ EVENING OF NCRIB LAGOS ON 30TH APRIL, 2024
The President NCRIB
Members of the Council of NCRIB
Executive Secretary NCRIB
MD/CEO’S of Brokerage Companies
All Brokers here present
Distinguished Elders of our Industry
My Colleagues from Universal Insurance Plc
Guest speakers/special guest
Members of the press
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a pleasure for me to stand here again today and share with you all our story, the story of Universal Insurance Plc. Our journey with NCRIB and member broker companies is one of partnership. We are grateful for the partnership and sincerely believe in making the partnership stronger.
You the brokers and our friends are the integral part of our success. Our success story cannot be complete without mentioning of your roles in our success journey.
I stand here today to acquaint you with the happenings in Universal and to strengthen the relationship between us and all of you.
CLAIMS
Claims payment still remains our focal point and priority. At Universal, we strive to meet our claims obligations as and when due. We have consistently delighted our customers with prompt settlement of claims. This to us is the major reason why we are in business. I assure you that we will continue to grow our tempo in claims settlement.
DIGITALIZATION
We are one of the very few digitally Compliant Companies in the market. We have portals that are available to our customers and brokers to access our products, lodge claims all at the comfort of their home or office. We have applications that are very compliant and friendly especially in compliance with latest Web Aggregators guideline. This enables any digitally Compliant Company to easily have a handshake with our software to either buy, sell Insurance or lodge claims. All our retail line products are sold and bought digitally. I encourage all brokers to take advantage of this.
MARKET EXPANSION
Our strategy to grow our business through expanding our market continues. We opened a total of 6 branches in less than 2 years, Yenagoa branch being the most recent one. More new branches will come up within this quarter. We are also enhancing our online platforms to ease our business operations.
WHERE WE ARE
I am so delighted because your support has continuously made us better. As we aspire to grow higher with your support, it is important to inform you where we are. In 2023, with your support we grew our premium income by 63% from N5.7B to N9.4B and our Profit After Tax by 9% from N619M to N675M and total claim paid grew by 157% from N682,589M to N1.756 B.
OUR STRENGHT
• Knowledgeable, young & vibrant workforce
• Quick response to claims
• Digitalization of our operations including claims
• Flexibility in our business approach
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)
In 2023, a total of N21,181,111.00 was donated to the society as CSR compared to N15,429,200.00 donated in year 2022.
– Food and household items to a less privileged home at Ikorodu
– Books and other educational materials to schools amongst others.
CONCLUSION
We are still standing today because of you. In these past years you have supported us by entrusting us with your risks. You are the reason why we are still here. Today I am confident to tell you that Universal is stronger and better and has built capacity to handle all your risks. I therefore ask you to continue to extend your businesses to us. For those who are yet to enjoy our services, I enjoin you to please extend your hands of fellowship to us, I assure you, you will never regret it.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for believing in us as we together march to the next level. May God continue to protect and guide us by His Grace in Jesus Name Amen.
