Niger set to curb claims delay

Niger set to curb claims delay

Chuks Udo Okonta

Niger Insurance Plc has dedicated a special account to curb delays on claims administration and settlement its Managing Director Mr Justus Uranta has said.

He said this at the company’s 2012 annual management conference in Lagos, adding that delay in claims management has been a great concern to the company. He said a dedicated account sorely for claims and commission payment has been adopted as a permanent solution to the challenge.

He said settlement of claims and commission remain the best marketing strategy for business generation. He noted that the company hopes to underwriter N20billion premium this year.

He noted that 10 years ago the company tapped into the market potentials facilitated by the country’s huge population by introducing the agency and life department division which has helped transformed it operations.

He said the company’s retail business has not been that successful, adding that efforts have been made to revitalise that aspect of business as a new incentive model has been put in place to drive the retail business. He said regional and branch managers would now be appraised on their ability to meet the company’s expectations on retail agency business.

Uranta said the company will do all things possible to abide by regulatory rules, adding that any officer who incurs penalties for the company will be held personally liable to face disciplinary actions.

He said: “Corporate governance has become a global issue because of its effect on operations of firms. It focuses on the adherence to acceptable ethical standards and best practices for the benefit of all stakeholders. To this end, the legal environment of our business is fast changing with several regulations coming into force from the financial sector regulatory bodies. Which all companies are expected to comply with fully and timely. It would be very unfortunate if Niger Insurance is listed among those companies facing penalties for infractions. Consequently, officers whose act of omission and commission incurs penalties for the company would be held personal liable and made to face disciplinary actions as a result.”

He noted that as part of the company’s on-going re-engineering, it has acquired a new software programme called turnquest to boost service delivery.

“In order for us to effectively benefit from this investment, extra funds have been approved which would among other things enable the software’s connection to regional and branch offices thereby effectively linking their operations with the head office,” he added.

He said the software would afford real-time responses to request from or to the head office and greatly improve on the quality of the company’s customer service.