Microinsurance coverage up 29% in first half

MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos have availed of microinsurance policies in the first half, the Insurance Commission (IC) said yesterday.

In a statement, Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said the number of individuals with microinsurance coverage in the first six months increased by nearly 29 percent to 36.55 million from the 28.42 million in the same period in 2017.

“As of end-June, the number of individuals covered by some form of microinsurance protection increased to 36.55 million with the mutual benefit associations sector as the consistent frontrunner in terms of number of lives covered and premium production,” Funa said.

According to Funa, 58.59 percent of the market share as of end-June was accounted for by the mutual benefit association (MBA) sector, with 21.45 million members and dependents covered.

This was 24.12 percent up from the 17.28 million individuals covered by MBAs the same period last year.

“We also saw a significant increase in the number of insured covered by the life insurance sector to 11.45 million lives covered as of end-June, up by 37.58 percent from 8.32 million during the same period last year,” Funa said.

“The non-life insurance sector likewise recorded a 29.31 percent increase in the number of individuals covered by microinsurance to 3.65 million from 2.82 million year-on-year,” he said.

With the increase in individuals covered, the IC said the microinsurance business in the country generated a total premium income of P3.71 billion from January to June, up 12.47 percent from last year’s level of P3.3 billion.

Funa said 59.3 percent or P2.2 billion of the total industry premium was collected by the MBA sector.

This was followed by the life insurance sector, which contributed P1.1 billion of total premium income, and the non-life insurance sector, which earned P415.3 billion in premiums.

“The consistent growth in the number of lives insured and premium production demonstrates the effectiveness of the microinsurance scheme in providing insurance solutions to everybody especially to the low-income households,” Funa said.

“And we are pleased that more insurance companies are expressing their interest in developing new microinsurance products to help narrow the country’s protection gap,” he said.

At present, a total of 42 companies are actively engaged in providing microinsurance products in the country. These include 22 MBAs, 11 life insurance companies, and nine non-life insurance companies.

Earlier this year, Philippine American Life and General Life and General Insurance Co. (Philam Life) and Allianz PNB Life Insurance Inc. both announced their respective plans in venturing into the microinsurance business.