INSURERS PAY N11bn ENDSARS CLAIMS

Insurance Companies in Nigeria has paid no fewer than N11bn in claims by policyholders arising from the damages they suffered as a result of the ENDSARS protests that hit the country in 2020.

This was revealed by the Chairman, Nigeria Insurers Association ( NIA),Mr. Ganiyu Musa, during  the Annual General Meeting of the Association in Lagos.

The chairman in his speech equally stated that the industry equally recorded significant growth despite the enormous challenges of the sector in the period under review.

In his speech: “One of the main objects of the NIA is promotion of ethical conduct among members. And this includes payment of all genuine claims. Pursuant to this, the association took very keen interest in developments around the #EndSars protests in October 2020, especially as they relate to payment of claims for insured losses. I am happy to report that as at December 2021, our member companies have paid over N11.1billion claims to insured. The payments cut across several classes of insurance business such as fire/burnt site, vandalization, burglary attack, as well as loss of cash”.

Recall that thousands of youths in the country took to the streets in protest against police brutality after a video went viral on social media of a man allegedly killed by the special anti robbery squad. The protest was a call for the end to police brutality and extrajudicial killings by men of the police force.

IMPACT OF THE PROTEST ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

The Endsars protest sparked a major nationwide movement to end police brutality in Nigeria. The initial start of the protest was peaceful in several cities across the country. However, troubles started when the men of the Nigerian police started firing tear gas canisters and shooting unarmed protesters. This resulted in injuries and deaths of some protesters

The endsars protest had a serious negative impact on the Nigerian economy. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry reports that Nigeria lost more than N700bn to the endsars protest, (LCCI, 2020). The endsars witnesses a drop in consumer spending in goods that are not essential. Similarly, so many businesses where destroyed, roads were blocked etc. these brought economic activities in the affected cities to a standstill.

INSURERS RECORD 10.24% GROWTH IN GPW.

Also speaking at the annual general meeting of the association, the chairman of the Nigerian insurers association equally disclosed that the Nigerian insurance industry recorded 10.24 per cent growth in Gross Premium Written, GPW, rising to N560bn in 2021as against N508bn in 2020.

The Mr. Ganiyu Musa, noted that the sector achieved the feat despite the numerous challenges the sector faced in the period under review.

He says: “One of the main objects of NIA is promotion of ethical conduct among members and this includes payment of all genuine claims. Pursuant to this, the association took very keen interest in developments around the #EndSars protests in October 2020, especially as they relate to payment of claims for insured losses. I am happy to report that as at December 2021, our member companies have paid over N11.1billion claims to insured. The payments cut across several classes of insurance business such as fire/burnt site, vandalization, burglary attack, as well as loss of cash”.

He further reveals;

“The Nigerian insurance industry was not insulated from developments in the general economic space and had its fair share of the challenges facing the larger financial market during the year under review. With epileptic power supply and an astronomic rise in the energy cost against the background of failing infrastructure, insurance companies had to contend with increasing cost of operations. These and many other factors including the multiplicity of taxes, contributed to affect the bottom line of insurance companies”

“Notwithstanding these challenges, the insurance industry continues to perform its statutory role of financial intermediation and business restoration. The volume of business written by member companies grew from N508 billion in 2020 to about N560 billion in 2021, representing an increase of 10 percent.”