WorldStage– Custodian Investment Plc’s contingency liabilities jumped 280 percent in 2025, the highest compared to eight other listed insurance companies selling life policies in Nigeria.
Policyholders generally fly to court when insurers delay claim payments or when a dispute arises in the claim. Insurers draw up an account of this as contingency liabilities—charges on profit that may or may not impact their balance sheets.
Nine of the insurers which have so far disclosed in their regulatory filings on the Nigeria Exchange Group spent a total of N13.71 billion on 128 recorded cases in the year.
Leading the nine insurers Worldstage sampled, Custodian spent N7.98 billion, from N2.1 billion in 2024. And its spending topped AIICO Insurance Plc’s N4 billion in the reporting year.
Royal Exchange Plc spent N612 million while NEM Assurance Plc and AXA Mansard Plc spent N242 million and N176 million respectively last year.
The lowest contingency liabilities stood at N63.1 million, by Consolidated Hallmark Group.
Going by the numbers of litigations, NEM topped the chart, with 47 outstanding cases whose cost it hopes won’t make a dent on its N1 trillion asset,
Following that was AIICO’s 40 cases, and Custodian’s 32, a 128 percent increase from its 14 cases in the year before. AXA Mansard had nine.
Of the nine life insurers, Coronation Insurance Plc and Linkage Insurance Plc recorded no litigation last year. And LASACO didn’t disclose whether it had or not.
Consolidated Hallmark Plc merely stated its contingency liabilities in terms of legal and filing fees. No litigation figure.
The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA 2025) has mandated insurers to pay claims within 60 days or face regulatory and legal sanctions.
