Mutual Benefits issues over 250,000 policies in 3 years.

Chuks Udo Chuks

Mutual Benefits Plc has through retail marketing strategy sold over 250,000 insurance policies in the last three years, its Group Managing Director Akin Ogunbiyi, has said.

Ogunbiyi, at a media parley in Lagos, said the company would continue to chart the course for development of the nation and insurance industry, adding that since 92 to 93 years, that insurance came to the shores of Nigeria, the industry has not been able to issue up to 1 million individual policies - be it motor policy, life policy or householder, putting everything together.

He noted that the new goal of the company is impacting development and growth of Nigeria economy through creating dynamism, partnership and of course empowerment, stressing that the firm has through its micro finance bank reach-out to insured at the grassroots.

He said: "Mutual micro finance bank in Nigeria today is into micro insurance and we have devised products and services that Nigerian common people can actually buy. We have products as low as N50.

"Our products are affordable and it meets the needs of this people and of course we approach the micro insurance association of Nigeria. We discussed our idea with them and how we can use insurance to create value and empower the people, but all our plea and presentation never saw the light of the day.

"That was how we approached the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), we made a presentation to them as to the objective we want to achieve using micro finance banks to drive micro insurance. As God will have it they gave us the approval to invest in the bank.

"Today the bank alone has given us about 65,000 individual policies. These are N10, N5 policies hanging somewhere, which the insurance industry would never have captured as premium. But we are very happy the micro finance bank is doing very well. It is through this we have been able to actually meet the objective of creating value and empowering the masses."

"It is a success story today in Lagos state. I remember, we have a group of people who are selling jotters. We approached them and put them in cooperative units, we empowered them as well encouraging them. Today they are accessing up to N10 million from the micro finance bank and they are paying back. The same applies to those selling textbooks, pure water, this is what we have done to use insurance to create value, empower them to be able to buy our products and services."

He noted that the firm has through its investment in transportation raised the bar in insurance and created wealth and job opportunities for the unemployed. He said the firm has also been able to capture the northen market through well researched strategy.