Insurance premiums not covered in senior citizen’s discount scheme

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — 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 notes that while Republic Act (RA) No. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010 mandates 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 of a 20-percent discount as well as exemption from value-added tax or VAT on the sale of various medicines; professional fees of doctors and home healthcare service providers; and availment of 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 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.”

Such is in accordance with Section 387 of RA 10607, which states: “lt shall be unlawful for any land transportation operator or owner of a motor vehicle to operate the same in the public highways unless there is in force in relation thereto a policy of insurance or guaranty in cash or surety bond issued… to indemnify the death, bodily injury, and/or damage to property of a third-party or passenger.”

“[T]he re-integration of property damage by RA 10607 to a CMVLI policy under the amended Insurance Code makes the acquisition of property damage coverage merely optional on the part of the policy owner, and not mandatory,” Dooc said.