Ebere Nwoji
In a deliberate move to deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria and lure property owners to the sector, Old Mutual General Insurance Company Nigeria, has urged property owners to attain financial security on their assets through adequate insurance coverage.
Old Mutual, General Insurance, a subsidiary of the Old Mutual Pan African Insurance Company and global financial services group, stated this at a press briefing to announce its strategic insurance partnership with an online real estate firm, Newhomes.ng.
Representative of the company’s management and Executive Head, Marketing and Customer Experience of the company, Alero Ladipo, noted that Old Mutual and its friends at Newhomes.ng were proud to announce the exclusive partnership in their quest to deepen insurance protection and bridge the gap of access to insurance products and services in Nigeria.
She noted that though insurance is an important tool for financial protection and risk management, in Nigeria, the message has not been fully embraced by the populace.
“Insurance products are not readily adopted, owing to a number of reasons ranging from economic challenges, lack of access to insurance services and negative cultural perception of insurance, amongst others,” she added.
She said as Africa’s foremost insurers with over 170 years’ experience in wealth creation and financial protection, Old Mutual understands the risks Nigerians face, especially homeowners, and has taken it as a duty to help them carry these risk and help them protect their investments.
According to her, understanding that access to insurance was a problem that affects Nigerians’ decision to purchase insurance, it becomes expedient for Old Mutual to come up with an innovative solution to bridge this access gap between Nigerians and insurance.
“It is to this end that we entered into this exclusive partnership with Newhomes.ng, to provide innovative technology led solutions aimed at delivering the right insurance services for homeowners in Nigeria and at the same time bridging the gap of access to basic financial insurance,” she added.
She said the collaboration was an opportunity for Old Mutual to provide insurance protection for property owners and home owners, adding that through the newhomes.ng platform, Old Mutual would be providing premium home insurance package to property owners. The benefits include building fire and peril household goods and personal belonging, burglary, fire insurance, alternative accommodation cost in event of home loss, personal accident cover and personal liability cover.
She said the partnership ensures that Nigerian property owners, whether individuals or real estate corporates can have access to insurance protection with just one click from a mobile device or computer.
“From the Newhomes.ng platform, Nigerians would be able to identify the insurance product of their choice from our offerings, calculate their premium in seconds, complete seamless transaction end to end and obtain their policy certificate, all from the comfort of their homes or offices”, she explained.
Also Speaking, Chairman Afreal Ltd, parent firm of Newhomes.ng, Prof. Chris Ogbechie, said the firm understands various issues affecting real estate sector in Nigeria.
He noted that with over 17 million housing deficit problem in Nigeria, the real estate sector was a big market in Nigeria.
He said it was time every Nigerian should begin to think about home ownership in Nigeria.
