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Chuks Udo Okonta
Cornerstone Insurance Plc is offering Nigerians great opportunities to effectively plan their finances and enjoy good life now and the future.
The frontline underwriter is doing this through the deployment of a robust application and four brand new products, which are: Cornerstone Rest (C-Rest); Flexi; Clip and Oga Boy.
The Head, Life Technical Unit, Cornerstone Insurance Plc Muibat Jimoh, while speaking on the App and the products today at a press conference in Lagos said the App would enable the public have all round the clock access to the firm’s operations at the comfort of their homes or offices, whilst the products would engender saving culture.
According to her, the products are all need based, providing solutions across wealth creation, retirement savings, children education funding and financial settlements for apprentice.
She submitted that
Cornerstone Rest (C-Rest), which has carved a niche for itself among its peers, is currently the most embraced Cornerstone savings plan for all classes of individuals, stating that C-Rest allows individuals to grow their money with added free life insurance cover and that not only do they receive guaranteed disbursement of their money at the end of the contract, the policy also shields their loved ones with a solid protection called “the Sum Assured”.
This sum assured, she said is usually a fixed amount within the policy contract term paid to a named beneficiary in the policyholder’s unfortunate demise.
On the features, she said it is a savings policy bundled with life insurance; single or regular premiums payable; policy duration is a minimum term of one year and a maximum term of 10 years.
The minimum entry age, she said is 18 and maximum age is 65 and minimum investment contribution is N3,000 monthly, adding that contributions can be increased at any time during the lifetime of the policy.
According to her, the free life cover starts from N36,000 annual premium and above, while waiting period of three months from policy inception date for death benefit.
She noted that death benefit is paid to the beneficiary on death of the policyholder before policy expiration and total investment and accrued interest on the policy will be payable to the policyholder at the end of the policy.
She maintained that the life cover is based on the range of monthly contributions, while interest rate is SDR + 1 and the surrender period carries a fee of 100 per cent charge for Year 1, 50 per cent for Year 2, 20 per cent for year 3, and then 10 per cent for the 4th year.
The Cornerstone Flexi plan, she said is an endowment policy that offers a lump sum amount on maturity of the. contract or death of the policyholder, stressing that its flexibility makes it easy for individuals to pay the premium upfront, either annually, bi-annually, quarterly, or monthly.
This flexibility, she noted is also obtainable in the aspect of paying benefits to beneficiaries as payment is made quarterly, second quarter or at the end of the policy term.
One other good feature of Flexi, according to her is that it allows policyholders to access loan options to the tune of 70 per cent of the contract’s surrender value, so long as the policy has been operational for at least two years.
On the features, she posited that premiums can be paid upfront, annually, bi-annually, quarterly, or monthly and the product is available for policy durations of 6, 9, 12 and 15 years only.
The minimum sum assured, she said is one million Naira, while the maximum age of entry is 64 years.3 per cent payable bonus on maturity.
“The policy also has a waiver of premium option if the policyholder is diagnosed with a defined critical illness or permanent disability.The policy has a loan facility to the tune of 70 per cent of the surrender value provided the policy has been in force for at least 2 years,” she posited.
On the benefits, she noted that the sum assured and accrued bonuses will be paid to the beneficiary or legal representative in the event of death before maturity, stressing that after two years, the policyholder can use the loan option.
“Cornerstone Life Insurance Plan (CLIP) is a term assurance product which was designed to protect the livelihood of the insured’s dependents in the event of his/her demise within the period of cover. For example, if you purchase this policy, your dependents or loved ones receive financial support to help them with life in your absence. Dependents can receive up to N2 million based on the premium paid by the policyholder,” she said.
On the the feactures, she noted that premium is paid up-front; policy duration is one year; the maximum age of entry is 64 years; the minimum premium payable is N1,000; life cover minimum is N100,000 and maximum is N2 million per annum.
Speaking on the benefits, she said when the assured dies, the beneficiary is paid a benefit and provides financial support to loved ones in the event of death.
Muibat Jimoh, while speaking on Oga Boy, maintained that just as its name implies, the Oga Boy plan is an apprentice savings scheme with a 2-year maximum savings duration and an accompanying term life insurance cover like i-Save.
This product, she said is targeted at traders with apprentices working under them for an agreed period, with the promise of compensation at the end of their service. It’s important to note that the Oga Boy plan isn’t a new product like the rest on the list, she added.
According to her, the firm merely re-introducing it to the market with some new modifications.
The features according to her are; One-off (upfront) risk premium payment for 2-year life insurance cover; minimum monthly savings of N5,000.00; options for the death benefit start from N100,000.00, up to a maximum of N1 million and the interest rate is SDR+1 per cent.
On the benefits, she said it allows business owners an opportunity to save towards the “freedom” of their apprentices; creates short-term capital for future needs such as business start-ups, school fees, landed property, purchase of an annuity at retirement, savings towards pilgrimage and/or holidays.
In the event of death, she said the account balance and sum assured are paid to the named, while accrued interest will be forfeited upon withdrawal or termination if this happens within the first 12 months.
Chief Technology Officer Cornerstone Insurance Plc Dan-Olufemi Olayinka, speaking on the App, said
it seeks to address; service excellence, simplicity, convenience and ease of doing business with
Cornerstone product information; purchase and payment.
He said the firm’s slogan is insurance at your palm which enables customers to purchase products
from start to finish.
The target customers of the product/app, according to him are retail and individual customers.
He identified the benefits as
availability of insurance services anytime, any day of the week without going to any of the firm’s branches; policy management whereby a customer can retrieve documents of insurance
purchased via the app at anytime and leveraging existing data to streamline data request from clients thereby improving the
turn around time for customer engagement.
He said the top features. are that customers can lodge motor claims and track the claim status; policy verification; customers can validate if insurance purchased is authentic with only view clicks; simplified customer journey and and any other answer that might be of interest to the public; investment plan product where the firm can manage savings /Investment plan product automated underwriting on all the company’s digital sales outlet
Head, Product Development & Channel Innovation, Cornerstone Insurance Plc Tunde Lawuyi, implored the public to embrace the products to build up wealth and leverage the App to explore the product offering of the firm and plan their lives: family and businesses through the products.
