JN General Insurance (JNGI) is in the process of a staff restructuring exercise, with staff being asked to prepare for the changes underway.

The Jamaica Observer was advised by reliable sources that the process began with some supervisory and management staff, who received termination letters.

JNGI declined to comment on the process underway, communicating to the Caribbean Business Report that they would provide information before backtracking on April 19, 2022 to say, “Sorry, we have no information to offer on this matter. Best regards.”

From the last annual report available, 2020, the record of the group’s exposure to general insurance risk shows provisions for property at $24.37 million, while provisions for motor claims were $1.4 billion.

JNGI is one of 11 general insurance providers operating in Jamaica. The Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) indicates that companies in the segment paid out $11.7 billion to policyholders for January – October 2021, reflecting a 10 per cent increase over the same 10-month period in 2020. There were 38,604 claims on motor vehicle insurance, three per cent more than in the year prior.

Quoting figures from the Road Safety Unit of the Ministry of Transport and Mining, the IAJ pointed out an 11 per cent spike in road fatalities in 2021.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) meanwhile reports healthy balance sheets for local companies, with total assets of the general insurance segment at $106.9 billion as at June 2021. This represents a growth of 8.0 per cent over the amount recorded as at June 2020.

Aggregate invested assets increased by 3.0 per cent to $54.2 billion at the end of June 2021, this compared to $52.7 billion as at June 2020.

Total revenue for the general insurance sector, the FSC indicates, was $12.3 billion, which was 3.8 per cent more than the corresponding period in 2020. At the same time, combined total liabilities rose by 9.1 per cent to $79.0 billion at the end of June 2021 from the $72.4 billion seen as at June 2020.

Industry-wide, however, aggregate total underwriting expenses fell by 6 per cent to $10.4 billion at June 2021 while leaving net income before tax was approximately $2 billion compared to $853.4 million at June 2020.

The Caribbean Business Report reached out to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for an update on filings for redundancy and staffing adjustments made by JNGI but no response was received up to press time.