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| Sunday, 30 May 2004 |
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LOIB hits Rs 203mln turnover Lanka Orix Insurance Brokers(LOIB) the wholly owned subsidiary of Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) Ltd has recorded a premium turnover of Rs 203 million for the year ended March 31, 2004. General Manager of the company Sanjiv Keerthiratne said " At present we are looking at getting more corporate accounts under our umbrella. Until now we were only concentrating on a few corporate accounts other than our group business. The company is an associate of Orix group Japan which is a subsidiary of Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance a triple B rated insurer. Therefore we have the capacity to reinsure large risks with our associate company, the GM said. Speaking of the sales force he said that they are training them to be "super salespeople" who are capable of selling all products of the group. They are knowledgable in handling all classes of insurance and claims. LOIB acts as a broker for all insurance underwriters who do business in Sri Lanka and markets all the products of these companies. In addition the company offers risk management services. "We do not charge the customer for our services and the customer does not have to pay a higher premium though the insurance is handled by us as it is the same as going direct to the company. But the customers get the added benefit of a value for money service if they go through us," he added. In some instances the insurance policy cannot be issued over the counter. Then we can give a cover note to confirm that the cover is valid for a month. Since it is a legal document it is accepted even by law enforcement authorities, said Keerthiratne. He said that 90% of the fortune five hundred companies do their insurance business through brokers while in Sri Lanka it is only about 35%. At present we together with the Insurance Brokers Association of Sri Lanka are trying to educate the customers on the values of using an insurance broker to handle their insurance needs. He said that one reason for the low penetration of brokers is a lack of professional brokers, after the liberalisation of the insurance industry in the late 1980's. This compelled customers to go direct to the insurance companies to get their insurance needs fulfilled. At present the trend is changing since people have been obtaining professional qualifications as well as experience and are now entering the market as brokers. The world over the sale of insurance policies is moving from direct sales to brokers as it does not cost the customer anything extra, keerthiratne said. The board of Directors of the company are Chairman Y. Ishida, Deputy Chairman -I.C.Nanayakkara, M.D.D. Peiris, L.S. Jayawardena, S.S.Jayawickrama,Mrs K.U. Amarasinghe, , V.R. de Silva and Specified officer/ Consultant Nihal Silva. |
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