IC gives life insurers more time to sell online amid COVID-19 crisis

MANILA, Philippines — In light of the two-week extension of the ongoing enhanced community quarantine until April 30, the Insurance Commission (IC) has given life insurers more time to sell their products online.

Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa on April 22 issued Circular Letter No. 2020-46 to amend its earlier regulation allowing online sales of life insurance products during the initial one-month lockdown period under CL 2020-29.

In the amendment, Funa said life insurance firms can sell through non-traditional channels “during the enhanced community quarantine period or any extension thereof, or until June 30, 2020, whichever comes later.”

In March, Funa noted that “face-to-face” sale of life insurance had been “impractical” during the COVID-19 quarantine imposed in Luzon and other parts of the country.

As such, the IC had allowed the sale of life insurance products via remote communication, including teleconferencing, videoconferencing, computer conferencing, and audio conferencing, even without the regulator’s prior approval.

IC nonetheless required life insurance companies to register these non-traditional sales initiatives and inform the regulator about their mechanics immediately after launching them.

Once registered with IC, sales agents may use the aforementioned communications technologies to get potential customers’ minimum information, on top of identification documents needed for customer due diligence.

In case a life insurance firm violated any law and other existing rules and regulations, IC can recall these non-traditional sales transactions.