Union Assurance settled N235m claims in 2010 'Osibodu

Union Assurance Company Limited has said that the claims it paid in 2010 fell by 65 per cent to N235.5m, from N672.9m in 2009.The Chairman of the company, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, disclosed this during the companys 12th Annual General Meeting in Lagos recently.She said, The company recorded a substantial decrease of about 65 per cent in claims incurred due to the various risk management strategies and reinsurance treaties put in place by the management.As a result of this, she said, the company made a modest profit after tax of N38m, compared to a loss of N1m in 2009. She also disclosed that the shareholders funds at the end of the 2010 financial period stood at N5.02bn, an increase of 3.4 per cent over the preceding years figure.According to her, the total asset grew by 8.4 per cent, from N7.98bn in 2009 to N8.65bn in 2010.Despite the challenging business environment, Osibodu said that the firm would continue to meet its obligations to policy holders.We are priming strategies to grow the individual lines of insurance because that is where growth is sustainable, she said.The chairman said Union Assurance was revamping its marketing machinery and upgrading its technology so as to quickly tap into the compulsory insurance market.The company, she added, was looking at the possibilities that micro insurance could offer the firm.She said, We are optimistic that the various new fronts we are exploiting will yield positive results. Partnership that will enable us expand our retail outlets will be our focus in 2011.Osibodu also assured that the company would rely on product innovation and repackaging of existing ones to further penetrate the market.While expressing confidence for a brighter future in insurance, she said that an uncertain environment, characterised by pervasive risk, was a fertile ground for insurance growth.For this reason, she said, the company would offer attractive solutions that would give potential clients options to offload their risks on the unique protection available in Union Assurance.
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