Royal Exchange to engage 2000 agents

Chuks Udo Okonta

Royal Exchange Insurance Group is to engage 2000 agents this year to market its products, Inspen has learnt.

Its Group Exective Director Market and Sale, Auwalu Muktari, disclosed this at meet the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) forum organised by National Association of Insurance Correspondents (NAICO) in Lagos.

He said the agents would be deployed to the firm's outlets across the nation, adding that the company has developed a robust Information and Technology (IT) platform to support the activities of the agents.

Managing Director Royal Exchange General Insurance Company, Olutayo Borokini, said most of the products to be sold by the agents have been developed into scratch cards, adding that the firm hopes to sell all its products through scratch cards in small values which would be tailored towards specify needs.

He said: "Those at the grass root can not be reached through the conventional brokers system. They are reached through agency networks which we are developing in house. Also, we are deploying the use of information technology to achieve this.

"We are putting some of these products on our website and sell them through the use of scratch cards through agents. That are the method we have used to reach out to as many people as possible. In fact, the intension is that all our products would sold through scratch cards in small values which would be tailored towards their specify needs.

"The way the scratch card works is that if a young man has just bought a car, and wants to insured it, he would be approached by an agent who would educate him of the need for insurance, if the car owner agrees to insure the car, he would be given a scratch card, with the card, once he pays a certain amount of money, he would be able to access our web site, fill the proposal form on line, he would then get a cover automatically. The process can be done with all smart phones and gadgets.

"An individual can still insure the content of his/her house through the cards, for certain products have been classified for certain prices, for an example, an individual can get a householder policy for one million value.

" At the rate of one per cent, which would cost N10,000 an individual can get a cover which can be done through the scratch card by just buy a card for N10,000 key the pin on it on our customised website, and fill the proposal form and get the cover automatically, after due confirmation. The process assists the insured in the claims collection and ensures that delays are removed."

He said the closure of most companies had had negative effects on the insurance industry, adding that manufacturing is the base of any industrial development. He noted that for any insurance firm to do well, the industries have to do well and that if the industries are doing well, there would be a lot of opportunities for insurance.

"But we have seen that the manufacturing sector is going down, due to lack of basic infrastructure like electricity. Take for an example the textile industry. The industry in the last two years has gone down because of power failure. If every thing is working as expected, the manufacturing and construction which are the real sector and agriculture would generate businesses for insurance," he said.

He said the firm has experienced good fortune since the commencement of the no premium no cover policy, adding that the policy is one of the best things to have happened in the industry in recent times.