L-R: Mr. Rotimi Olukorede, Chairman, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Lagos Area Committee (LAC); Fatai Adegbenro. Executive Secretary/CEO, NCRIB; Adelagun Okanlawon, Executive Director-Technical, Linkage Assurance Plc, and Ayo Akande, past Chairman, LAC, during the NCRIB, LAC general meeting sponsored by Linkage Assurance in Lagos on Thursday.
Underwriting firm, Linkage Assurance Plc has attributed its continuous growth and market expansion to her good relationship with the insurance brokers.
Linkage said its focus going into 2021 and beyond will be to strengthen the relationship by continuously providing efficient services and meting claims obligations promptly.
Daniel Braie, Managing Director/CEO, Linkage Assurance Plc made the disclosure during the general meeting of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Lagos Area Council(LAC) hosted by Linkage in Lagos.
Braie said “Linkage Assurance Plc recognises the pivotal role of the broker’s community in the growth of insurance business and that is why we decided that apart from hosting the national body, we would go a step further to host the various Area Councils across the country.”
“So far, we have done this in Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and now Lagos. If not for the COVID-19 Pandemic that broke last year which affected businesses all over the word including Nigeria, we would have covered more states.”
According to Mr. Braie, Linkage Assurance is still very committed to achieving this objective because of the importance it places on brokers as her strategic partners, as it is committed to delivering on the promises of her vision and mission statements.
He also disclosed that Linkage from its unaudited result for the year 2020 grew its Gross Premium Written by 28 percent from N6.5 billion in 2019 to N8.3 billion. This is as Linkage also achieved profit before tax of N2.5 billion, and paid out claims amounting to N2.4 billion during the same period.
“This would not have been possible without your support for which we are grateful. We had the largest aviation treaty in the market last year, and this year we about the highest in fire treaty. So, we are ready to serve you well, Braie assured.
According to him, Linkage insured 100 percent of the helicopter that crashed last year in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos and has settled the hull claim of N375 million and about concluding the settlement of the passenger liability claim of $300,000 for the three passengers that died in that unfortunate incident. “These are Indications that we are poised to provide robust and efficient insurance service to the Insuring public.”
“We have robust reinsurance in place. For year 2021, our fire treaty is abut the largest in the market and we settle our claims promptly. For businesses placed with Linkage, I say, go to bed and sleep with your two eyes closed because when there is claim, we will settle.”
We could not have done all these without the partnership of the brokers and in line with our strategic focus for the year, we intend to deepen the level of our relationship with the brokers, Daniel Braise noted while appreciating the brokers for their generous partnership with Linkage and also promising to , continue to improve on her value propositions.
On the recapitalization exercise in the industry, Braie said “we achieved the first phase of our recapitalization of N5 billion even before the deadline of December 2020 set by NAICOM from internal funds. We are all aware that there is a court injunction in force regarding the capitalization, but we are committed to concluding the second phase on or before this first quarter 2021”.
