GUS WIGGLE: Taking
CICO to the top
When in April 1994,
Central Insurance Company Limited (CICO) given approval to
transact all classes of insurance business, it took off as the
Company which would change the face of insurance operations in the
country. Its take off
capital base of N100 million, was the highest at the time.
This was an indication that CICO was a high profile
company. The Company’s introduction of a 24 hour time frame for
the settlement of all admitted claims put the industry on the
edge. CICO had since then forged ahead and had succeeded in the
refocusing the concept of insurance services.
Then came a period of stock-taking and the product of that
restructuring of CICO is the emergence of a more vibrant and
result oriented central insurance company.
At the pinnacle of the
now more vibrant CICO is Gus Wiggle, a chartered insurer
who was not one of the managers of the company in its early years
of operation. Wiggle, like the biblical stone which the
builders initially rejected has become the engine house of the
new-look CICO. “The
insurance business is about service, honesty, integrity, and
equity,” Wiggle said.
Right from inception,
CICO was to provide first class and innovative insurance services
through its fully computerised operations managed by highly
qualified and seasoned professionals, to give added value to its
brokers and clients. CICO
Re-Insurance Treaties are placed with very reputable Reinsurance
Companies at home and abroad.
Evidently, the mission
of the company is to create a result-oriented insurance company
with an international outlook, ranking amongst the leading
insurance companies in
Nigeria
with a creative solution to customers’ needs
and a firm commitment to excellence. Indeed the company has
accomplished its set goals, especially in the area of prompt
settlement of genuine claims.
CICO is a full line insurance
company offering a range of products and services covering life
and pensions, general and specialised and custom designed for
particular client groups.
In keeping with the
dynamics associated with present day development in technology and
office automation, CICO has put in place an integrated insurance
system by the use of Computers, to enhance its operational and
effective decision making, and exploit to the fullest, the
benefits of the increasing wave of deregulation of the economy by
the government and globalization of the banking sector.
CICO’s pension
administration is indeed a retirees delight.
The Company offers a minimum of guaranteed interest rate,
which varies with the size of each Scheme’s average accumulated
fund during the current year.
CICO currently offers a
guaranteed return on compound interest per annum for funds placed
with them. However, these rates are reviewed yearly depending on
the Central Bank’s Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) and the size of
the funds. At the end
of each calendar year, the assets of each Scheme will be credited
with an effective interest rate.
This is made up of its guaranteed rate of interest and
additional bonus interest will depend mainly on the yield of fund,
less the administrative expenses.
This additional bonus interest is not guaranteed but it may
be as high as 2% or even more.
CICO’s human resource
base ranks among the best in the Insurance industry, and the full
automation of the company’s operations, still remain its
competitive edge.
Newswatch Special Feature, Friday, 15 November 2002
|
