In the first half of 2022, the gross claims paid by the nation’s insurance providers to customers increased by 0.2%. This information was provided by the National Insurance Commission in its “Bulletin of the Insurance Market Performance” report for the first financial quarter of 2022.
The report stated that “The growth of the gross claims reported was 0.2 per cent during the quarter compared to the corresponding period of 2021. The industry statistics for gross claims in Q2 of 2022 stood at N174.8bn, representing 47.3 per cent of all premiums generated.
“This occasion reflects the professional underwriting capacity of the industry as driven by the intensified regulatory activities of the commission. The net claims paid on the other hand stood at about N148.2bn, signifying 84.8 per cent of all gross claims reported during the period.
“The life insurance business recorded a near perfect point of about 88.9 per cent claims settlement as against the reported claims, while the non-life segment stood at about 76.8 per cent.” According to the report, the percentage of incurred claims as against reported mirrored the market retention view during the period.
Auto insurance maintained its dominance with a claims settlement percentage of 92%. However, the oil and gas industry made greater progress than other sectors, with a claims settlement ratio of over 85,7%, up over 42 points from its position of 42,8% in the same period of 2021.
In addition, the paid claims ratio for miscellaneous insurance increased from 44 to 61.9% when compared to the same time in 2021; general accident (75%) and fire (76.2%) insurance followed, then aviation & marine (61.9%), in that order.
Additionally, it stated that gross premium income for the second quarter of 2022 was N369.2.8 billion, a noteworthy result is seen in Table 1 depicting the premium income contribution by each class of the business.
The sector recorded an increased growth rate at about 11.9 per cent quarter on quarter with a total asset of about N2.3 trillion. The industry’s financial position revealed a total of N1.2tn in assets of non-life businesses while the life business stood at about N1.1tn.
