By Habibat Aliu
Insurance industry players said they recorded a premium income of N532.7 billion in the first three quarters of the year despite concerns about the bad economic situation in the country.
This was contained in a bulletin of the sector market performance released by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on Tuesday.
It stated that the sector generated about N532.7b in gross premium income, translating to 15 per cent year-on-year (y/y) growth.
According to the regulator, the significant performance in the financial services sector of the economy has been likened to Nigeria’s growth in the real gross domestic product (GDP) in recent quarters. It added that the industry expanded by a 14.9 per cent growth rate, an indication of impressive performance.
The non-life underwriting business sustained its market dominance at 58.4 with oil and gas leading at 30.8 per cent. Fire insurance followed at 21.3 per cent while motor insurance stood at 14.6 per cent. Marine/aviation, general accident, and miscellaneous were 11.8, 11.2, and 10.3 per cent respectively.
Though the insurance industry’s operational environment remains challenging due to global and domestic economic challenges, its confidence remained high as affirmed by the retention indicators.
The life business retention for the period was 94 per cent while non-life recorded a ratio of 55 per cent as the industry average stood at about 71.4 per cent.
Indeed, the life insurance business recorded commendably, a near-perfect point of about 94.8 per cent during the period under review.
As for claims payment as of September was N242.6 billion, which was slightly lower compared to the corresponding period of 2021, when #EndSARS protests increased insurance claim payment. The claim declined by 2.3 per cent.
The ratio of total claims to gross premium stood at about 46 per cent during the current period.
