MANILA, Philippines - MicroEnsure Philippines has paid a total of P18 million in calamity insurance claims (approximately $400,000) to help almost 1,800 families who suffered losses as a result of typhoon Sendong. This has allowed these families to rebuild and move forward after the devastation.
The payments were made through MicroEnsure Philippines’ calamity index insurance product, which covers clients’ residential property against eight perils: typhoon, flood, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, tsunami, fire and lightning.
MicroEnsure is at the forefront of calamity microinsurance in the Philippines, offering clients vital cover for just P150 a year (approximately $3.50).
These products are specifically designed to provide protection to clients of MFIs, rural banks, cooperatives and even mutual benefit association (MBAs) against fire and natural calamities.
The product was launched in May 2011 and has already proved an important competitive advantage for MicroEnsure’s partners in the Philippines.
The Philippines averages 20 tropical storms or typhoons a year, of which around four to eight become major events. The threat of natural calamities is constant in the Philippines.
Many feel that the typhoons have become worse over the last few years as a result of environmental devastation from illegal logging and small-scale mining.
Typhoon Sendong (also known internationally as typhoon Washi) was the world’s deadliest storm in 2011 and the third deadliest ever recorded in the Philippines.
More than 1,000 people died and the subsequent flash floods affected many areas in the Southern Philippines, with 23,000 families left homeless.
Many of them were left seeking shelter in evacuation centers, where food and water were in short supply.