CHI Microinsurance Limited has officially commenced operation with plans to insure about 100 million uninsured grassroots dwellers in the country.
A statement issued by the company said that while speaking at the official launching of the micro-insurance firm, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Mr Eddie Efekoha, disclosed that the firm would leverage the opportunities in the grassroots to make headway.
As a pioneer national micro-insurance outfit, he promised that the new firm would partner artisans, Small and Medium Enterprises, microfinance banks, cooperative societies, trade associations, among other players, to appropriately insure risks in the micro-segment of the nation’s economy.
He said, “There are about 100 million people in the micro-segment of the nation’s economy. This presents opportunities for us as a firm targeted towards insuring that segment of society.
“We have assembled the right people for the job and we can promise you that CHI Microinsurance will pay your claims as and when due, and will offer customers the best of insurance services.”
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the new firm, Mr Pius Kariaren, said, currently, the firm had cemented a relationship with some groups that dealt directly with the grassroots, a development that would give the company an edge in the retail segment of the market.
He said, “We want to be the forerunner by ensuring that the masses have insurance. Artisans and micro businesses are our targets. To this end, we are starting with five products namely – CHI Esusu Plan, CHI Credit Plan, CHI Cooperative Society Plan, CHI Welfare Plan and CHI Group Life Plan. Players in this segment should approach us for the best policy to underwrite their respective risks.”
While promising the company would not renege in its promise to fulfil its obligations, he said the firm had assembled dedicated hands to ensure that products were created from time to time to suit the needs and yearnings of the grassroots Nigerians.
The Director-General, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mrs Yetunde Ilori, advised the firm to be a good role model for other micro-insurers that may be coming behind, urging them to be a pathfinder.
Also, the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, said the regulatory body created a micro-segment of the insurance market in a bid to cover the gap left by the conventional insurance companies as most of them were interested in the formal and corporate market, thereby leaving the informal and the micro-segment uninsured.
