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Chuks Udo Okonta
It was a refreshing moment as Mutual Benefits Assurance, organised a training programme to educate members of National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) on retail underwriting practice.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Femi Asenuga, at the event, with the theme: ‘Winning With Retail Products,” yesterday in Lagos, said Mutual Benefits right from inception has been at the forefront of championing the campaign of deepening insurance penetration in Nigeria with retail products.
According to him, ‘when we started, we did not start as many of our peers did in the market, because at the time we started, the practice then was companies to align or establish relationship with the brokers because brokers, for so long, have been in control of the big ticket insurance account in the country.
Asenuga described as abnormal the huge population of the country with low insurance penetration stressing that “At the time Mutual Benefits started, we reckoned with the major challenge the insurance industry was having at that time, and that was identifying retail insurance penetration as strategy for differentiating ourselves from other players in the market.
“This was made possible because we had to do a widespread of research, looking at what was absent in the market at that time, and our focus was mainly on served and the unserved segment of the market, and this led us into coming up with a whole lots of products – interesting, relevance and the rightful products aims at meeting the needs of the unserved segment of the market.
“Mutual Benefits was the first insurance company in the market that introduced a product that was selling at a very low price of N50 and the product was called ‘Green Shield.”
He noted that the company has made its mark in the market, ‘’no doubt and you can see this with the kind of marketing team Mutual Benefits pride itself with. Today we have the largest retail marketing team.’’
“Today Mutual Benefits is a preferred destination when you are looking for capable hands in retail insurance development and today our people are everywhere in the market being in charge of retail outlets of various insurance companies,” he submitted.
He said the training programme was one of ‘’our ways of trying to show our appreciation for your supports and for so much NAIPCO as an association has done for Mutual Benefits Assurance Group.
While soliciting the continued cooperation from the Association and sustenance of the programme, he said the training was meant for knowledge shading.
During the training, NAIPCO members were taken through various topics including Principles Of Insurance; Fundamentals Of Claim Administration; Personal Accident Insurance; Features, Benefits And Unique Claim Procedure Of Individual Savings And Protection Plan (ISPP), Mutual Term Assurance (MTA) & Mutual School Fees Guarantee Scheme; Motor Insurance; Fire And Special Perils Insurance.
In his vote of thank at the end of the programme, Executive Director, Operations, Biyi Ashiru-Mobolaji urged NAIPCO members to make conscious efforts in creating the needed awareness that will engender insurance growth in Nigeria.
“As journalists, we urge you to go out there and educate the people about the values and benefits of insurance for their individual lives and the development of the national economy. Tell people about us, what we do, and how they can benefit from our products and services,” Biyi said.
The facilitators include Joseph Oladokun, General Manager Technical, Gbadebo Gabriel Adebayo, Assistant General Manager and Abisola Fadairo, Senior Manager, while Ellen Offo, Head Corporate Communications Department moderated the event.
The Frontline underwriting firm promised to sustain organisation of the event as it would help equip the journalists effectively to better inform the public through their reportage.
