How healthy really is your preneed firm?

The Insurance Commission (IC) has ordered preneed firms to post their financial statements on their company websites to allow planholders to better monitor their financial state.

Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc said preneed companies should put up and maintain websites through which planholders could easily access information concerning the firms’ financial health, as mandated under the Pre-Need Code.

By November, preneed providers must post the following information on their websites: the latest approved annual statements, latest approved consolidated statement of trust fund, and audited financial statements filed within the past 30 days with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Preneed firms’ websites should also contain an updated list of its directors and executive officers, the address of the main office as well as its branches and the latest certificate of authority.

Companies that do not heed the IC’s order will be fined at least P50,000, on top of a basic penalty of P10,000 and P5,000 monthly thereafter if they do not post the mandatory content.

As of May 4, the IC has issued certificates of authority for 2016 to 14 providers of education, life and pension plans: Ayala Plans Inc., Caritas Financial Plans Inc., CityPlans Inc., CocoPlans Inc., Eternal Plans Inc., First Union Plans Inc., Himlayang Pilipino Plans Inc., Manulife Financial Plans Inc., Mercantile Care Plans Inc., PhilPlans First Inc., St. Peter Life Plan Inc., Sunlife Financial Plans Inc., Transnational Plans Inc. and Trusteeship Plans Inc.