Cornerstone Insurance Plc has unveiled four new products aimed at enhancing insurance penetration, savings culture and financial inclusion of those excluded from the financial system.
To this end, the insurer has launched Cornerstone Rest (C-Rest); Flexi; Clip and Oga Boy.
Speaking at a press briefing at the company’s head office in Victoria Island, Lagos to announce the new products, at the weekend, the head, Life Technical Unit, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Muibat Jimoh said, the products were meant to enhance savings culture and increase insurance subscription of Nigerians.
Cornerstone Rest (C-Rest), she said, allows individuals to grow their money with added free life insurance cover and that not only do they receive guaranteed disbursement of their money at the end of the contract, the policy also shields their loved ones with a solid protection called ‘the Sum Assured.’
This sum assured is usually a fixed amount within the policy contract term paid to a named beneficiary in the policyholder’s unfortunate demise, she noted, adding that, this policy is a savings policy bundled with life insurance; single or regular premiums payable; policy duration is a minimum term of one year and a maximum term of 10 years.
To her, “The minimum entry age is 18 and maximum age is 65 and minimum investment contribution is N3,000 monthly as the contributions can be increased at any time during the lifetime of the policy. The free life cover starts from N36,000 annual premium and above, while waiting period of three months from policy inception date for death benefit, even as the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary on death of the policyholder before policy expiration and total investment and accrued interest on the policy will be payable to the policyholder at the end of the policy.”
Saying, the Cornerstone Flexi plan is an endowment policy that offers a lump sum amount on maturity of the contract or death of the policyholder, she stated that, its flexibility makes it easy for individuals to pay the premium upfront, either annually, bi-annually, quarterly, or monthly, while the policy is also obtainable in the aspect of paying benefits to beneficiaries as payment is made quarterly, second quarter or at the end of the policy term.
While Flexi allows policyholders to access loan options to the tune of 70 per cent of the contract’s surrender value, so long as the policy has been operational for at least two years., she added that, premiums can be paid upfront, annually, bi-annually, quarterly, or monthly and the product is available for policy durations of 6, 9, 12 and 15 years only, even as the minimum sum assured is N1million while the maximum age of entry is 64 years.
With Cornerstone Life Insurance Plan (CLIP), a term assurance product, the policyholder’s dependents are protected in the event of his/her demise within the period of cover, she said. Citing an example, she said, “if you purchase this policy, your dependents or loved ones receive financial support to help them with life in your absence. Dependents can receive up to N2 million based on the premium paid by the policyholder. The premium is paid up-front; policy duration is one year; the maximum age of entry is 64 years; the minimum premium payable is N1,000; life cover minimum is N100,000 and maximum is N2 million per annum.”
The Oga Boy product, she stressed, is an apprentice savings scheme with a 2-year maximum savings duration and an accompanying term life insurance cover like i-Save. She emphasised that the product is targeted at traders with apprentices working under them for an agreed period, with the promise of compensation at the end of their service. It’s important to note that the Oga Boy plan isn’t a new product like the rest on the list, but that her insurer is just re-introducing it to the market with some new modifications.
She listed the product’s features to include: One-off (upfront) risk premium payment for 2-year life insurance cover; minimum monthly savings of N5,000.00; options for the death benefit start from N100,000.00, up to a maximum of N1 million and the interest rate is SDR+1 per cent.
Earlier, the head, Product Development & Channel Innovation, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Tunde Lawuyi urged the public to embrace the products to build up wealth and leverage the App to explore the product offering of the firm and plan their lives: family and businesses through these innovations.
On his part, the chief technology officer, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Dan-Olufemi Olayinka, while speaking on the company’s App said, it sets to address service excellence, simplicity, convenience and ease of doing business with Cornerstone product information, purchase and payment at fingertips.
Saying the target customers of the product/app are retail and individual customers, he added that the App enhances availability of insurance services anytime, any day of the week without going to any of Cornerstone’s branches, ensures policy management whereby a customer can retrieve documents of insurance purchased via the app at anytime and leveraging existing data to streamline data request from clients, thereby, improving the turn-around time for customer engagement.
