Insurance premiums not covered by senior’s discount

The Insurance Commission has clarified that insurance premiums are not covered by the discount scheme extended to senior citizens.

Circular Letter (CL) No. 2015-01 issued by Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc last Jan. 6 noted that while Republic Act (RA) No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 mandated a 20-percent discount on the sale of various goods and services enumerated under this law, it “does not include the payment of premiums for insurance policies.”

“[T]he National Inter-Agency Coordinating and Monitoring Board, a government agency attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development tasked with the implementation and monitoring of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, has not issued any guideline ordering the applicability of the 20-percent discount in the payment of premiums for insurance policies made by senior citizens,” Dooc noted.

Under Section 4 of RA 9994, senior citizens or those aged 60 and above can avail themselves of a 20-percent discount as well as exemption from the value-added tax or VAT on the sale of various medicines; professional fees of doctors and home healthcare service providers., and even dental and medical services as well as payment of diagnostic and laboratory fees.

Also discounted are fares for air, land and sea transportation; services in hotels and lodging establishments as well as restaurants and recreation centers; admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses, concert halls, circuses and other leisure and amusement establishments, and funeral and burial services for the death of senior citizens.

Meanwhile, a separate circular letter issued by Dooc last Dec. 15 clarified the coverage of compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance (CMVLI).

CL 2014-52 noted that under RA 10607 or the amended Insurance Code, “an insured may choose to avail (himself or herself) of an insurance policy which may cover damage to property of a third-party or passenger, as the case may be, if it is offered by an insurer subject to the payment of the computed premiums as may be approved by the Insurance Commission.”