….sets to storm Local Government Areas within Lagos State and Rural Areas within Nigeria to deepen insurance penetration

Amaka Obiefuna.

Determined to bridging the financial protection gap and increasing the rate of insurance penetration in Nigeria, Leadway Assurance has launched a first-of-its-kind Mobile Office. The plan is for educating and increasing the awareness of risks to which people and businesses are exposed and bringing insurance closer to customers as a way of managing those risks and protecting themselves against possible negative financial outcomes. Leadway will though the deployment of these mobile offices, enable direct access to insurance as a financial protection through next to door interaction, engagement and transactions. The Mobile Office is equipped with state of the art communication technology that allows the customers to be serviced real-time, end to end, wherever they may be. It is also environmentally friendly as it draws its power from solar while within remote areas.

This initiative will start with Lagos State where the company will be activating market roadshows across several Local Governments. The launch which was held on Wednesday, August 2, 2017, at the Leadway Assurance Corporate Office, Iponri, Lagos kick-starts the activation events which will not only sell insurance products but also engage and educate the public on the need to insure their risks, ensuring happiness and peace of mind.

Leadway Assurance’s MD/CEO, Mr. Oye Hassan-Odukale, represented by Executive Director, General Business, Ms. Adetola Adegbayi, while commenting on the Mobile Office, said, “As market leaders in the Nigerian Insurance industry, we have taken it upon ourselves to fulfill the task of reducing the financial protection gap within the country, which in turn increases on the low insurance penetration rate in Nigeria. We have elected to bring risk protection and insurance education closer to the man on the street in Nigeria. The launch of this state-of-the-art Mobile Office is a testament to the execution of this goal. Our objective goes beyond sales; we intend to reverse the negative perception many Nigerians have of the insurance industry.

He further explained that: “With the huge potential of the insurance industry to positively impact our economy by safeguarding the enormous risks within the entire business ecosystem, and by creating wealth through investments, the industry is still way behind other financial and service sectors, contributing about 0.3% to the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Notwithstanding a population of over 180million people about a third of which are within the insurable class, Nigeria is said to have about 5 million registered policyholders. This lack of density shows how largely untapped the Nigerian market is and the huge opportunities available to increase insurance uptake and the number of policyholders nationwide,”.

This new initiative from Leadway  further underscores its capacity to drive retail insurance in Nigeria, as residents can now easily purchase very affordable micro-insurance products such “Home Flexa” – which offers comprehensive personal/shop insurance coverage protection for home and belongings, including shops, personal accident and funeral expenses at just  about N13,000 annually. Other products available on the Mobile Office include the Leadway “Hospital Cash Plan” which provides the benefits for hospitalization from accidental injuries or illness for as low as N7,000 annually. The team will also sell the Leadway Third Party Vehicle Liability Insurance, basic Life and Life investment linked assurance and other Leadway retail insurance policies.