Mansard Insurance Plc has said it recorded N10bn gross premium in the third quarter of 2012, from N10bn in the whole of 2011.

In a statement on Friday, the firm said it recorded eight per cent increase in profit by September 2012 after it changed to its new name.

According to the statement, the  profit also increased from N1.2bn in September 2011 to N1.3bn in a similar period of 2012.

The Executive Director, Mansard Insurance, Mr. Kunle Ahmed, said the results were signs that the new name had impacted on its business positively.

“Anything we say is what we will do, and if you have a policy with us and you have a loss, we are going to pay your loss within 24 hours and that is the commitment we make for our customers as we approach our first year anniversary,” he said.

According to him, the decision to depart from the former name, GTAssur, to Mansard, was tough for the management team; however, the company’s strategy of engaging and involving all stakeholders in its decision-making process paid off as the brand is currently enjoying top mileage and vast patronage in the market.

“We took the transition to Mansard Insurance like a project. We engaged our customers and took them in confidence each step of the process,” Ahmed explained.

The Assistant General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Mansard, Mr. Taiwo Adeleye, attributed the success rate of the new brand to quality service delivery and massive marketing support for the brand, which invariably created huge awareness and translated to increased market share the brand was currently enjoying.

Apart from the survey that was conducted prior to the new name, the statement added that the brand also enjoyed massive marketing communications support, which made it one of the most visible and engaging insurance companies on the above-the-line platform.

According to the statement, one of Mansard’ strong points is its ability to attract strong industry ratings.

It stated that industry rating companies such as Agusto & Co and Global Credit Rating had certified Mansard Insurance with A+ for credit and A+ for claims paying ability respectively.

It added that AM Best rated it B for financial strength and bb+ for issuer credit.

In the middle of 2012, the company launched a brand new name, Mansard Insurance Plc, as a result of Central Bank of Nigeria’s guidelines demanding that banks divest from their non-banking companies or transform into a holding company structure.

Mansard Insurance is the first player in the industry to comply with the new regulatory policy.

Source: Punch (written by Nike Popoola)