Sri Lanka’s insurance giant SLIC strongest in the region
View(s):Insurance giant, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) has laid claim to being one of the strongest insurance companies in the Asian region.
Hemaka Amarasooriya, Chairman, SLIC at the media conference held at Cinnamon Grand Hotel on Tuesday, declared that it is a fact that SLIC paid the largest ever insurance claim – Rs. 37 billion – when two aircraft were bombed by terrorists at the Katunayake Airport, the highest claim not only in Sri Lanka but also in Asia.
Raising the question himself of “how you can do this”, he said that it was possible because SLIC is backed by some of the best known reinsurance companies in the world. He said that there is this story going around that they should not have the monopoly of the state sector covering insurance.
But he indicated, that – at that time – other insurance companies in this country were unable to pay this kind of claim and it was paid within two weeks after the incident.
He said that it is the reliability of an ‘old man’ of insurance in Sri Lanka. Indicating that they are interwoven with the social fabric of the country, he said that they are very strong in the rural population and in vulnerable areas, because their name is trusted and their plan is to expand their work into the rural hinterland.
He said that they have emerged as the number one in general insurance with a healthy market share of 21.3 per cent as at December 31, 2017. SLIC, he said commands a market share of 22.69 per cent in the non-motor sector and an over 20 per cent share in motor, leading both sectors in the general insurance market.
He said that they are up for stringent competition in Sri Lanka’s insurance market with 38 insurance companies and among them there are also multinational companies, all fighting for market share.
He observed that the insurance industry is emerging as a futuristic sector in the economy of Sri Lanka and offers a large number of employment opportunities.
Some school leavers after 10 years of being insurance agents, he said, have become millionaires and they earn big money and remarked that they earn more money than their (SLIC) board directors.
SLIC supports the community by giving scholarships to school children and while supporting the Cancer Hospital fund, he said SLIC contributes Rs. 5 million each year to this fund. The contributions are directed to the pediatric unit of the hospital to prevent cancer among the children.
(QP)