Insurance makes meaning, as LASACO Assurance pays death benefits to Lagos workers
Insurance does not make much meaning until an incident occurs and people are paid benefits or compensation, which enables the victim or dependants of victims to return to the position they were before the incident or a kind of succour at that critical time when all hope seems to have been lost.
This confirmation about the importance and benefits of insurance came to the fore recently, when dependants of bereaved staff of the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs and The State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBED) received death benefit cheques from LASACO Assurance Plc, on the life insurance policy undertaken by the Lagos State Government on behalf of its workers.
The Pension Reform Act stipulates that every employer, to which the Act applies, must maintain Life Insurance Policy in favour of the employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee. Under the policy, total annual emolument is defined as the basic salary, transport and housing allowances and shall not include bonuses, overtime, directors’ fees or other fluctuating emoluments.
Section 8(1) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 stipulates that “Where an employee dies, his entitlement under the insurance policy maintained under subsection (5) of section 4 of this Bill shall be paid by an underwriter to the named beneficiary in line with section57 of the Insurance Act 2003.
Segun Balogun, managing director/CEO, LASACO Assurance Plc speaking at the cheque presentation held at Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa commended the State Government for complying with the Pension Reform Act 2004 which mandates employers to provide life insurance for their employees. He said Lagos is among the few State governments that have complied fully with provisions of this law, stating that this shows commitment to welfare the state employees.
While thanking Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for regularly paying the insurance premiums despite the economic situation, urged beneficiaries and dependants of the deceased workers to make judicious use of the money so that the dead can be happy wherever they are.
Musliu Folami, commissioner, Ministry of Local Government & Community Affairs who represented the governor Ambode reaffirmed the commitment of the state government in ensuring that its employees welfare are raised to reasonable standard.
Folami assured LASACO Assurance that the governor will continue to pay the premium, pointing out that insurance by this arrangement has made meaning to the life of the people and will be sustained.
The insurance scheme, which started in 2009 paid total of 174 beneficiaries in 2013 and 2016. And for this year(2017) being the third in the series, 85 beneficiaries got cheques consisting of 50 local government and 35 SUBEB deceased staff.
According to the guidelines for life insurance policy for employees jointly issued by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and National Pension Commission (PenCom), the employer is required to fully bear all costs in relation to procurement of this policy, and this shall be in addition to the contributions to be made by the employer to each employee’s Retirement Savings Account.
The policy provides cover to the insured against death and the insurance cover is mandatory for all employees as long as they are in employment. This means that the policy provides for the payment of the sum assured in the event of the death of a member of the scheme from any cause, natural and accidental.
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