Linkage Assurance Plc has settled N375million hull claims for the helicopter that crashed in Lagos 2020 in which two crew members died on the spot while the passenger, who chartered it, later died in an hospital

The Managing Director, Linkage Assurance, Daniel Braie made this known during the hosting of members of the Lagos Area Council of Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) by the company.

“The underwriting firm insured 100 per cent the chopper that crashed in the Opebi area of Ikeja killing three people.

Braie said: “We had the largest aviation treaty in the market last year, and this year we about the highest in fire treaty.

So, we are ready to serve you well. “Linkage insured 100 per cent of the helicopter that crashed last year in Opebi, Ikeja, Lagos and has settled the hull claim of N375 million and about concluding the settlement of the passenger liability claim of $300,000 for the three passengers that died in that unfortunate incident.”

It will be recalled that the helicopter operated by Quorom Aviation had departed Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with one passenger onboard. It was gathered that the copter dropped from the sky around 12 noon and crashed into a residential building on Salvation Road in the Opebi area. Two crew members died on the spot while the passenger, who chartered it, later died in an hospital.

Each of the victims is expectd to receive $100,000 insurance claim, according to global aviation standard. Meanwhile, while appreciating the brokers for the continuous growth of the underwriting firm, the managing director said its focus going into 2021 and beyond would be to strengthen the relationship by continuously providing efficient services and meting claims obligations promptly.

Braie said: “Linkage Assurance Plc recognises the pivotal role of the broker’s community in the growth of insurance business and that is why we decided that apart from hosting the national body, we would go a step further to host the various Area Councils across the country”.

“So far, we have done this in Abuja, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and now Lagos. If not for the COVID-19 that broke last year, which affected businesses all over the word including Nigeria, we would have covered more states.”

According to him, “Linkage Assurance is still very committed to achieving this objective because of the importance it places on brokers as her strategic partners, as it is committed to delivering on the promises of her vision and mission statements”.

He also disclosed that Linkage from its unaudited result for the year 2020 grew its gross premium written by 28 per cent from N6.5 billion in 2019 to N8.3 billion. This is as Linkage also achieved profit before tax of N2.5 billion, and paid out claims amounting to N2.4 billion during the same period.

“These are indications that we are poised to provide robust and efficient insurance service to the Insuring public. “We have robust reinsurance in place. For year 2021, our fire treaty is abut the largest in the market and we settle our claims promptly.

For businesses placed with Linkage, I say, go to bed and sleep with your two eyes closed because when there is claim, we will settle. “We could not have done all these without the partnership of the brokers and in line with our strategic focus for the year, we intend to deepen the level of our relationship with the brokers,” he noted.

On recapitalisation exercise in the industry, Braie said “we achieved the first phase of our recapitalization of N5 billion even before the deadline of December 2020 set by NAICOM from internal funds.

We are all aware that there is a court injunction in force regarding the capitalisation, but we are committed to concluding the second phase on or before this first quarter 2021.”