Amaka Obiefuna.

Nigeria’s oldest underwriting company, Universal Insurance Plc. Has dismissed reports it is battling financial challenges.

The Nations Newspapers had reported the challenges, but Universal’s CEO, Ben Ujoatuonu told insurance reports touring the company’s new corporate head office in Lagos that Universal is not in any financial mess as reported by the newspaper.

Ujoatuonu reveals that Universal Insurance Plc is very liquid and this according to him can be seen in its financial report for 2015 and 2016 and their short term investment that can be called up at anytime.
He said as of today the company’ s shareholders fund is in excess of N7billion whiles its solvency margin is between N4 billion to N5 billion.
The CEO said the company meeting up with its obligation of prompt claims payment to its clients and don’t have any issue of outstanding obligation to its clients that they have not met. “We are not in any way struggling financially or otherwise.”
On its 2015 and 2016 account, he said: “We have submitted our 2015 financial account to NAICOM since last year only that it was delayed due to our inability to compile various assets under our company to the report that was what delayed us from meeting the March deadline set by the commission.”
He added that audit work is ongoing for the 2016 account assuring that the account will be submitted to the commission on time.
On report of skeletal activities in its Victoria’s island office, the Universal Insurance boss has this to say: “As at August last year we moved our corporate head office from Victoria’s island to a strategic location in the Gbagada Expressway, Anthony Oke Lagos to helps us to reach our customers and is inline with the thinking of the direction where the company is going.
He further said that the company is not in anyway deserted as claimed by the Nation newspapers, adding that they have a functional office, adding that the Lagos office have 36 staffs while across the country it have about 73 staffs trained to delivery quality service to its teeming clients.
Ben Ujoatuonu  also explained why their quarterly accounts have not been uploaded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange website, he said because our final financial account have not been approved by NAICOM will cannot uploaded our quarterly accounts on the NSE website he said.