Cebuana Lhuillier has sought authority from the Insurance Commission (IC) to offer so-called microlife insurance products under a partnership agreement with industry leader Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life).
Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions (CLIS) General Manager Jonathan Batangan said Cebuana Lhuillier has partnered with Philam Life in offering microlife insurance policies.
“We target to offer microlife insurance products next year. Insurance premium will range from P25 to P50 per policy. Just like the Alagang Cebuana Plus [ACP] with coverage of P5,000 per certificate and daily hospitalization, income benefit and medical reimbursement and death benefit. For P50 you have nonlife and life cover benefits at the same time for four months,” Batangan said.
“For P150, that’s one full year coverage of microlife insurancde. We hope to launch it in January 2015,” he added. The microlife insurance products will be sold at Cebuana Lhuillier branches nationwide.
Batangan also said that they will also launch agricultural insurance for crops, microhealth insurance and personal accident insurance with calamity assistance. All of these were up for IC approval.
Batangan cited an Asian Development Bank study showing that super typhoons as large and devastating as Supertyphoon Yolanda inflict considerable damage to life and property in the country every other year.
“The Philippines is most vulnerable. The Philippines lies in the [so-called] ring of fire and typhoon belt. Calamity is getting more and more intense every year. The better way to get protection for the masses is to get microinsurance,” he said.
“We are intensifying our campaign to bring in more people, be aware of microinsurance and get higher microinsurance density in so doing,” Batangan said.
Microinsurance products cost as little a P75 a year and pay out benefits totaling more or less P20,000, enough financial sustenance for a low-income individual who barely has access to financial services typically available to the more financially endowed.