Scam: Man Claimed Falsely That Crashed Car Was Stolen

A Suffolk man crashed his car into a lamp post, lied to police that it had been stolen, and made a false insurance claim for theft, a court has been told.
By the time the police attended the incident late at night in August last year the car’s occupants had disappeared and efforts by officers to find the registered keeper of the car, Tiago McLeod, were unsuccessful as he hadn’t gone home that night, said Michael Crimp, prosecuting, the Ipswich Star reported.
The following day McLeod told police his car had been stolen, and made an insurance claim for the vehicle, which was a write off.
McLeod, 24, has denied attempting to pervert the course of justice by falsely reporting to police and his insurance company that his car had been stolen. Giving evidence McLeod denied being the driver of his car at the time of the collision and lying about the vehicle being stolen.
But Crimp said that McLeod was seen by witnesses standing next to his car immediately after the collision.
Bradley Smith, a community warden, told the court he lived near the scene of the collision and had gone to see what happened after hearing a loud bang.
He said he saw McLeod, who he recognised from visits during his work to a local BMX park, standing near the car with a woman.
He claimed he heard a woman tell McLeod to leave the scene because he had been drinking.
The trial continues.

Source: Law360

Man Repays $500,000 In Insurance Money With 4 Tons Of Quarters

 

 

When Roger Herrin learned that a court had ordered him to repay $500,000 he had received in insurance payments for the death of his son, he decided to protest the order in an unusual way: he paid approximately a third of the money back in quarters, which, altogether, weighed nearly four tons.

Herrin’s 15-year-old son, Michael, was killed in a car accident in 2001. Because Michael was the only one of the four passengers in the car who died, Herrin received the bulk of the $800,000 settlement from the car’s insurance. Herrin also received $1.65 million in other insurance payments as a result of his son’s death.
The other crash victims and their families contested the ruling, and a legal battle continued between the families until an appellate court ordered Herrin to refund his share to increase the other families’ take
“They can have all the money in the world, and I’d take my son back,” Herrin said. “To support, my deceased son and ex-wife, I have to fight it to the very end, and this is the final end.”
The 7,500 pounds of quarters were packed in 50 pound, transparent bags, and transported from the Federal Reserve in St. Louis to the law offices of the attorneys representing the other families on a flatbed truck and in an armored truck. Naturally, the attorneys receiving the quarters weren’t pleased.
“We’ve been on pins and needles because we had a lot of cash suddenly laying around [and] it was publicized,” Mark Prince, an attorney for the car’s driver and her son, said. “We don’t have safes or vaults, and we lock our front door. Advance notice would have been nice, because we could have made arrangements to have it delivered to the bank.”
Not that Herrin regrets the inconvenience he caused. “I really wanted to do it in pennies,” he told NBC News.

Goldlink Insurance Reports N731.47m Loss On Rising Claims Expenses

The huge claims expenses incurred by underwriting firm, Goldlink Insurance Plc are responsible for the Nigeria insurer’s loss position in the most recent quarter, culminating in a high combined ratio fast approaching the 100 percent threshold.
This is in addition to lower premium incomes recorded by the insurer as it repositions to improve its performance.
Goldlink Insurance Plc announced a loss of N731.47 million in its first-half (H1) report for the period ended June 30, 2015.
The risk company in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said that profit before tax also depreciated to N731.47 million loss in its first-half (H1) report for the period ended June 30, 2015.
Similarly, Gross premium  was not left out as it decline to N1.394 billion from N1.723 billion recorded in same period of 2014; this indicating a drop of 19.1 percent.

Source: Insurance Advice & Business Day

Nigeria: Insurers To Get 25% In Oil And Gas – Report

 

  

Significant high-value insurance risks worth 75 per cent and 60 per cent have continued to flow into the international markets, notwithstanding the legislation on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, A. M. Best, has said.

The international rating agency, A. M. Best in a report made available to journalist, estimates that insurers are retaining only between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of the country’s oil and gas related business, compared to the less than five per cent written prior to the 2010 legislation.

The report showed that the insurers lacks the adequate levels of capital to support their exposures to oil and gas business.

The rating agency said this is enhanced by the absence of expertise and technical know-how to support the underwriting of oil and gas business.

It stated that the Act has yet to successfully deliver on its objective of effectively domesticating the majority of oil and gas business in Nigeria.

According to the report, the Act, established in 2010, mandated that insurance companies must participate in 70 per cent of the local energy business arising from the sector before these risks could be transferred internationally.

The report read: “Nigerian insurers lack the adequate levels of capital to support their exposures to these high-value risks. This uncertainty is enhanced by the absence of expertise and technical know-how to support the underwriting of oil and gas business.

“In a further attempt to increase the retention of oil and gas profits in the country, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) supported the Nigerian Insurance Association (NIA) establishment in January, 2015 of a new initiative, the Energy and Allied Risks Insurance Pool of Nigeria.

“Managed by African Reinsurance Corporation, the pool consists of 14 members and has capacity to underwrite USD 4 million of oil and energy risks. The pool is expected to assist in the sharing of knowledge and expertise of insurers underwriting oil and energy business, although in reality the capacity of the pool remainsvery small in comparison to the scale of many of the large oil and energy risks underwritten.”

The agency noted that while the Act has enjoyed marginal success, NAICOM has continued to be proactive in its attempts to advance the insurance market.

Over the years, the regulator has implemented numerous reforms to improve the perception of the sector and expand the contribution of the industry to the country’s economic output, to varying degrees of success, it added.

Source: Insurance Advice

Guardrisk Life To Underwrite For African Bank & Good Bank

African Bank Investments Ltd, which crumbled under a mountain of debt and was placed under curatorship on 10 August 2014 by South African Reserve Bank, has announced that Guardrisk Life Limited has been appointed to underwrite insurance products for African Bank and Good Bank.

The bank says this follows the lapsing of its relationship with The Standard General Insurance Company at midnight on Saturday.

African Bank’s curator, Tom Winterboer, says in a statement that African Insurance Group (InsureCo), the company which will hold all insurance interests as part of the Good Bank Group under the Good Bank Restructuring Proposal, has concluded an agreement with Guardrisk Life.

InsureCo is a fellow subsidiary of Good Bank, both of which are held 100 percent by African Bank Holdings (New HoldCo).

The Guardrisk cell captive commenced providing credit life and other insurance underwriting arrangements for African Bank’s new business with effect from January 17 and will do so for Good Bank’s new business with effect from the targeted Transaction Effective Date of April 4.

African Bank crumbled under a mountain of bad debt in August 2014, which forced the government to appoint external administrators to oversee a restructuring that included carving out a “good bank” using its healthy loan book – worth R26 billion.

Its parent, African Bank Investments Limited, which also owns an insurance business and failed furniture retailer Ellerines, also went into business rescue and protection from creditors.

African Bank lost R9.3 billion in the year to September 2014 compared with a loss of R6 billion a year earlier.

It has now concluded a funding arrangement to provide InsureCo with capital so it can operate. This funding arrangement will transfer to Good Bank in April.

The deal allows InsureCo to insure the new African Bank and Good Bank customer risk exposures through an equity participation in Guardrisk known as a “cell”. These arrangements typically allow participants to enjoy all the benefits of owning its own insurance company without the inherent cost and administrative implications of doing so.

Brian Riley, CEO designate of Good Bank, said: “We are extremely pleased with this significant development which provides further impetus to the anticipated finalisation of the restructuring of African Bank in less than three months’ time. The new arrangement with Guardrisk, a leading cell captive insurer, represents a big step forward, and is mutually beneficial for both African Bank and its customers.”

Source: Insurance Advice Nigeria

FG constitutes 10-member committee to review insurance bill

By: ISAAC ASABOR

A ten-member committee has been constituted by the federal government to review the Insurance (Consolidated) Bill. The move seeks to align the bill with the principles of global best practices in the insurance industry as well as enhancing a well organized insurance industry in the country.

The review, upon completion, would pave the way for a new drafted bill that would be sent to the National Assembly for deliberation.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who disclosed that the review committee has been constituted said members of the committee were drawn from both the public and private sectors and that the outcome of the review would upon completion be submitted to the house within three months.

It would be recalled that the Director (Press), Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Marshall Gundu had on Monday given a hint in statement that the Review Committee would soon to be inaugurated by the minister. He in the statement said Dr. Omogbai- Omo Eboh, a renowned expert in Insurance Law would chair the committee, while Dr. Talmiz Usman (Head of Legal Department, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) would be the Secretary.

Other members of the committee include a representative of the Ministry of Finance; a representative of the National Insurance Commission; a representative of Nigeria Insurers’ Association (NIA), and a representative of Nigeria Council of Registered Insurance Brokers.

Also included in the Committee are the representatives of the Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria; representative of the Attorney General of the Federation; Kamar Raji and Dr. Ladi Hamalai of the National Institute of Legal Studies.

Source: National Mirror

Exclusive: Nigeria Re Shows Insurance Industry Outlook Report

 

The premier reinsurance company in Nigeria, Nigeria Reinsurance Plc, has uncovered a report, which contains a detailed review of the insurance market in 2015 with projections for 2016.

The Report is segmented into 3 sections with the first section dealing on the following topical issues:

1. Economic review for 2015,
2. Economic outlook for 2016,
3. Insurance industry review for 2015 and Insurance industry outlook for 2016.

The second section dealt on:

1. Economic review for 2015
2. Insurance outlook for 2016 in sub-saharan Africa.

The third section captures:

1. Nigeria’s economic review for 2015
2. Economic outlook for 2016, 2016 budget (Assumption) breakdown
3. Insurance industry review for 2015 Outlook for 2016” and insurance industry outlook for 2016.

The Report with the title “Insurance Industry Outlook for 2016” retrospectively analyzed that the insurance industry in Nigeria had largely remained underpenetrated with insurance density (insurance premium as a percentage of GDP) at 0.225 per cent. It noted that the industry recorded an estimated growth rate of 10 per cent in 2015, and that insurance gross premium written rose to N300 billion (estimated) in 2015.

Also captured in the Report was the appointment of new commissioner for insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari and a new president for the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, CIIN., Lady Isioma Chukwuma as well as the election of Mr. E. Okunoren as the new president of the National Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, NCRIB.

The Report on the performance review of the Nigerian insurance industry in 2015 took note of 108 insurance brokers that were delisted by the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, for failing to renew their licences. Similarly, it reported that NAICOM with the power vested in it in 2015 dissolved and reconstituted the board of an insurance company.

Also mentioned in the report is the opening of 57 insurance company branch offices within the year under review in cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja, thus bring the total number of insurance company branches to 853 in the country. It noted that NAICOM, within the purview of its regulatory role, directed all registered insurance companies to offset all their outstanding Claims on 30th September, 2015.

It adds that few mergers and acquisitions were recorded in 2015 with most of the acquisition done by foreign companies.

The report provides adetailed projections for the Nigerian Insurance Industry in 2016, commencing the positive outlook that if the federal government fulfills its promise of paying all its outstanding premium in 2016 (which worth N10b), insurance companies might have a better Gross Premium Income (GPI) in 2016. with a Global perspective and review of key African markets.

It discusses the outlook for different sectors, inherent opportunities as well as strategies for navigating the financial market. On a sad note, it projected that that if some state governments go ahead with planned retrenchment exercises in 2016 that Non-life Premium (especially 3rd party motor insurance) may drop.

Similarly, the Report projected that the unhealthy scramble for customers in the industry may further force the pricing in the industry to go down (ratecutting) except NAICOM intervene with minimum threshold for all classes of business.

Source: Insurance Advice & National Mirror