Consolidated Hallmark recognizes, renews N24m accident cover for journalists

By Olusegun Obisanya

Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, (CHI), Plc has renewed the Group Personal Accident Insurance cover worth N24 million sum assured for insurance journalists in the country.

This, according to the company, is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project, to ensure that journalists who are exposed to danger and hazard in the discharge of their civic duties are adequately protected. The Group Personal Accident Insurance covers death, permanent disability and medical expenses.

The policy, which is now in its 9th years, is said to be in operation since 2012, and is renewed annually by the company. The cover was renewed in October, 2020 and it is due to expire in September 2021.

The policy, according to a statement from the organisation, covers all members of the National Association of Insurance and Pension Correspondents (NAIPCO) across the country while the company has promised to continue to renew the coverage for the journalists every year.

Reacting to this development, the Group Managing Director/CEO, CHI, Mr. Eddie Efekoha said, this gesture is to demonstration the high values and respect his insurance firm has for journalism, believing that journalists, who are the shapers of the society, and by extension, the insurance industry, must be well taking care of.

He viewed that journalism is a risky profession and therefore needs to be adequately provided insurance cover for those covering the insurance industry.

Elaborating on the insurance cover, Efekoha stressed that in the event of the death of any of the concerned journalists, the family of the deceased is entitled to N1 million death benefits.

The CHI CEO said, “A journalist who suffers permanent disability in the discharge of his duties will also be entitled to N1 million. The cover provides for medical expenses to the tune of N200,000 per journalist in the case of an accident.”

Responding to the initiative, the Chairman, NAIPCO, Mr. Chuks Udo Okonta, said, this is a rare gesture from CHI, as part of its CSR initiative aimed at impacting lives of IRS immediate community.

On behalf of members of the association, he thanked the company and its GMD for recognising the pivotal roles journalists are playing in the society and indeed insurance industry, adding that, this will serve as moral boosters for his members to continue to discharge their duties ethically and professionally without exhibiting any fear or intimidation.

Retrospectively, NAIPCO chairman alluded a member of the association, Mrs. Bimbo Oyetunde, a staffer of Radio Nigeria, who was involved in a ghastly motor accident in 2013 received medical bill compensation from Consolidated Hallmark Insurance alongside other members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) on their return from Abuja, after an official assignment where three people died.

“Your company has lived up to expectation in the past when one of our members benefited from this policy and that we are grateful for. Although, we don’t pray for hazard to happen, but we are relaxed that if the unexpected happens, CHI is always there for us,” he said.

Meanwhile, the insurance firm has pledged to financially support the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) on its building project to ensure the dream of having a befitting edifice for CIIN is realised notwithstanding the tough times insurance organisations are contending with at the moment.

The Group Managing Director/CEO, CHI, Mr. Eddie Efekoha, stated this recently when the executives of CIIN paid a courtesy visit to the company’s headquarter in Obanikoro, Lagos.

The said building project, which has long since been abandoned because of funding issues, is located in Victoria Island, Lagos and is estimated to gulp N2 billion to complete it.

He said, “We are all aware that the industry is undergoing recapitalisation at a critical time that there is paucity of fund in the industry. Claims are piling up, and businesses are not forthcoming in insurance because they too are going through tough times, hence, could not insure and in all these, companies must recapitalise to survive, hence, our survival is paramount. So, we will look into it, after surviving. We can’t be too specific on the amount, but we will support the initiative.”

He appealed to other companies to support the CIIN building project to ensure that the education arm of insurance industry has a good building it can call its own and generate revenue from it.

Thanking CHI for the kind gesture, the president, CIIN, Sir Muftau Oyegunle said his administration had to revisit the building project which started 33 years ago, believing it’s a legacy of the insurance industry and must be supported by stakeholders in the insurance industry.