Western & Southern Names Cris Collinsworth National Spokesperson

CINCINNATI, May 29, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ -- Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) has signed a multi-year agreement with Cris Collinsworth to become its national spokesperson.
"Cris is without a doubt one of the most recognizable, well liked and knowledgeable broadcasters
working today," said John F. Barrett, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Western & Southern. "His credibility, approachability and trust provide an ideal match with our company's core values. We are extremely pleased to have Cris on board as our national spokesperson."
Collinsworth recently won his 14th Sports Emmy for his work as lead analyst on NBC Sunday Night Football. "I welcome the opportunity for a long-term relationship with Western & Southern as a leader in its industry," Collinsworth said. "The company has an outstanding reputation and I look forward to helping it build quality results."
Collinsworth was an All-American wide receiver at the University of Florida before joining the Cincinnati Bengals in 1981. After eight seasons, two Super Bowl appearances and three Pro Bowls, Collinsworth retired and began a very successful career in broadcasting.
"Cris has a natural style that is approachable, practical and straightforward," Barrett added. "Such attributes are perfectly suited for building our company's brand and enhancing connections between our field agents and their customers and prospects. This partnership with Cris is a significant part of Western & Southern's efforts to expand and grow our efforts to serve middle-income Americans."
Plans are yet to be finalized, but Western & Southern is planning to develop marketing materials and promotional programs during the summer that it expects to introduce during the 2013 Western & Southern Open in August.
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Beginning as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company in 1888 in Cincinnati, Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) is marking its 125^th anniversary in business and is now a Fortune 500 diversified family of financial services companies with assets owned and managed in excess of $60 billion as of March 31, 2013. Western & Southern's six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company) maintain the following financial strength ratings: Standard & Poor's AA+ Very Strong (currently the highest rating held by any life insurance company and making Western & Southern one of the eight highest-rated life insurance groups in the world), A.M. Best A+ Superior, Fitch AA Very Strong and Moody's¹ Aa3 Excellent. All of Western & Southern's life insurance companies have a Comdex Ranking of 97. Other member companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.;² IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC; ² Touchstone Advisors, Inc.;² Touchstone Securities, Inc.;³ W&S Brokerage Services, Inc.; ³ and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. For more information on the Western & Southern family of companies, visit www.westernsouthern.com. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Open (www.wsopen.com) tennis tournament, a premier event in the U.S. Open Series featuring the world's top-ranked professional male and female players.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/05/29/4900155/western-southern-names-cris-collinsworth.html#storylink=cpy

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Pay Outstanding Group Life Premium, Insurance Brokers Urge Govt

Insurance brokers plying their trade across the country have appealed to the Federal Government to pay the outstanding 59 per cent of the premium for the 2012 Group Life Assurance (GPA) for its workers.

Acting under the auspices of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), the brokers observed that the failure on the part of government to honour this financial obligation was impacting negatively on the insurance industry.

The premium payable for the group life assurance for federal government employees for last was over N3 billion, out of which the government paid only N1 billion.

The federal government introduced pension reforms in the country nine years ago, a package that includes the mandatory group life cover for workers at the instance of their respective employers.

Section 9 (3) of the Pension Reform Act, 2004 states that every employer must “maintain life insurance policy in favour of the employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee”, observing that it seems that this important aspect of the law is being overlooked by the stakeholders.

Making the call in Lagos recently, the President of NCRIB, Mrs. Laide Osijo, said government paid only 41 per cent of the total group life assurance premium for last year,

“I want to appeal to the Federal Government for the release of outstanding premium on group life for the year 2012. As it stands, only 41 per cent of the premium has been paid remaining 59 per cent to be paid.

“This situation has made many insurance companies to discountenance claims under the year in review of the now existent ‘No Premium No Cover’. This, as we are all aware, is to the displeasure of some beneficiaries especially to those who died in active service. The impression many of them have is that the insurance industry is insensitive to their plights, a situation that creates serious image smear for the industry,” Osijo said.

She observed the initial apprehension over the no premium no cover policy was gradually being replaced by optimism as brokers and underwriters count the gains of the policy.

She, therefore, appealed to the federal government to assist the industry to avoid further accumulation of unpaid premium and claim, a situation that negates the new premium collection system.

Meanwhile, to ensure that the group life assurance business remain attractive to all stakeholders, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) pegged the upper limit for commission payable by life insurers to insurance brokers on group life assurance business at 8 per cent.
The regulator noted that in their desperation to attract or retain businesses, life insurers engage one another in a vicious commission war to the advantage of insurance brokers and at the detriment of the whole industry

“In line with section 53(1) of the Insurance Act, 2003, commission payable to an insurance agent, broker or any intermediary on group life assurance business shall not exceed 8 per cent of the premium,” the commissioned directed.

The major advantage of the group life insurance for employees is that it is a guarantee that if a worker was unable to accumulate significant amount in his retirement savings account before he dies, his estate would still get something tangible up to at least 3 times his annual salary.

This amount would go a long way to relieve the pain associated with the loss of a breadwinner even as the employer is relieved of the burden of making additional ex-gratia payment to the estate of the deceased.

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