Chuks Udo Okonta
Standard Alliance Insurance Plc said it paid a consolidated claims amounting to N1.5billion in its nine months’ operations in 2015 just as it has received a ‘BBB’ rating from the South Africa-based Global Credit Rating (GCR) in recognition of its ability to settle verified claims promptly.
A statement by the company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Nelson Egboboh, said Standard Alliance Insurance Plc was responsible for a total of N801.1 million claims while the balance of N714.2 million was paid out by its life subsidiary, Standard Alliance Life Assurance Ltd.
He noted that the claims which were paid out between January and end of September this year to affected policyholders spread across fire and special peril, aviation, marine, Motor, oil and energy, general accident, bond and engineering classes of general insurance as well as the group and individual life policies.
He explained further that a total consolidated sum of N2 billion was paid out by the company and its life subsidiary as claims to affected general and life policyholders during the same period in 2014.
He said the company’s commitment to settle genuine claims to the tune of N1.5bn despite the pervasive economic hard times businesses were experiencing was in keeping faith with the organisation’s renewed commitment towards settling claims to affected policyholders, noting further that the company recognizes that the best tool to win and retain customers was its good records of a sound claims administration.
Meanwhile, Global Credit Rating, a South Africa-based rating body, has rated Standard Alliance Insurance Plc “BBB” in recognition of its claims paying ability.
Passing a remark in its conclusive report released in October, the rating body observed that the general business underwriting company’s “gross claims rose slightly during the review year, underpinned by the rise in volume of business written,” adding that “although a notable increase was reflected in the oil and gas class, management confirmed that those are related to claims incurred in prior year.”
It further observed that “the insurer made increased provisioning across all classes of business which saw the net claims rise by 12% to N1.2bn in 2014 financial year.”
Commenting further, the rating agency reported that “on a net basis, the insurer’s risk base is fairly well spread across lines of business,” pointing out that the company’s “2015 re-insurance programme is mainly led by well rated counterparties, including African-Re and Continental Re, with each covering 40 per cent of cession.”
While confirming the adequacy of the company’s technical reserves, the report observed that “the insurer’s financial statement pertaining to 2011-2014 have been prepared in line with IFRS with 2010 presented according to the previous NGAAP standard.”
It noted that the company was growing its business amidst increasing competitive dynamics over the years, stating also that the company was focusing on penetrating the retail market as it intends to “significantly increase the contribution of consumer lines to overall portfolio going forward.”
