From Uche Usim, Abuja
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has released its third-quarter performance, showing that the insurance industry recorded a premium income of N532.7 billion within that period.
The disclosure, captured in NAICOM’s Insurance Market Performance bulletin, showed that the risk-bearing sector generated N532.7 billion in gross premium income at a Year-on-Year (YoY) growth rate of about fifteen per cent during the period.
Likened to Nigeria’s growth in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 2.3% during the same period, the industry fostered at a higher rate of about fifteen (14.9%) per cent growth rate, an impressive performance once again.
The Non-Life insurance business sustained its market dominance at 58.4% of the total premium generated. Insights in the segment show Oil & Gas was the leading driver at 30.8% with Fire Insurance following at 21.3%. Motor Insurance stood at 14.6% while Marine & Aviation, Gen. Accident and Miscellaneous reported a share of 11.8%, 11.2% and 10.3% respectively.
Life business on the other hand recorded 41.6% of the market production as its contribution gradually closes up. The share of Annuity in the Life Insurance business lagged at about twenty-six per cent (25.5%) while Individual Life was at 41.2% of the premium generated during the period.
Though the Insurance Industry’s operational environment remains challenging due to global and
domestic economic challenges, its confidence remained high as affirmed by the relevant retention situation.
The Life business retention for the period was 94% while non-life recorded a ratio of 55% as the industry average stood at about seventy-one (71.4%) per cent. Indeed, in the Life Insurance business recorded commendably, a near-perfect point of about ninety-four (93.8%) per cent during the period under review.
Presentation by various classes in the non-life segment of the market shows that all classes stood at an above-average position and, except for the Oil & Gas (36.9%) business which was a further decline when compared to the same period in 2021 in which it recorded about forty-two (41.9%) per cent in retention share.
As for claims settlement in the third quarter of 2022, the gross claims reported by the market of N242.6 billion, was slightly lower compared to the corresponding period of 2021, signifying a decline of -2.3% in the total claims reported by policyholders.
However, the ratio of total claims to gross premium stood at about forty-six per cent during the current period. The net claims paid on the other hand stood at about N207.2 billion, signifying an 85.4% of all gross claims reported during the period.
The Life Insurance business recorded a near-perfect point of 95.0% claims settlement against all the reported claims while the non-life segment stood generously at above seventy (72.4%) per cent during the same period.
The array of proportional claims settlement took a direct reflection of the market premium retention as Motor Insurance retained its lead, posting a claims settlement ratio of about ninety.
This is followed by Miscellaneous insurances reporting about eighty one per cent as paid claims ratio to all reported claims during the period while General Accident (74.4.%), Marine & Aviation (74.3%) and Fire Insurance (59.6%) trailed in that order.
The Oil & Gas business stood out as the most improved portfolio in this respect at about sixty-five (65.3%) per cent of claims settlement ratio, an increase of forty-one points compared to its position of 23.9% recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
Similarly, the claims settlement ratio of the life business stood at 95% while the aggregate industry average was recorded at 85.4% during the quarter.
The Insurance market indeed remained profitable during the period, recording an overall industry average of about fifty-five (54.5%) per cent, a noteworthy performance though lesser, compared to 46.7% recorded in the corresponding period of the preceding year.
