Yemisi Izuora
The Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) has said that the insurance sector has recorded estimatied sum of N319billion in terms of value of business underwritten by the industry in 2014.
The figure is against N285billion underwritten by the industry in 2013.
Also the industry paid a total of N403billion claims, between the year 2009 and first quarter 2015.
The claims were paid out of a total N886,457,019billion gross premium written by the industry within the period.
Chairman of NIA, Godwin Wiggle who made the disclosure at the 44th annual general meeting of the association in Lagos pointed out that the industry between 2009 and 2013 paid a total N189.627billion claims on non life business while N98.902 billion was paid on life within the period.
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) recently said that the industry in 2014 paid a net claims of N90.393 billion in 2014 andN23.938 billion claims for the first quarter 2015 in both life and non life business.
According to Wiggle, As we know, the insurance sector can’t be separated from the vagaries and vicissitudes of the national economy therefore the challenges of the power supply,weak infrastructure and continuing insurgency in the North East contributed to slow down the pace of growth of the industry” he observed.
He said it was not easy for the industry to achieve this height noting that the Nigerian insurance industry’s landscape was plagued by several challenges.