Microinsurance coverage reaches 39.7M Filipinos

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly two out of every five Filipinos have turned to affordable microinsurance products for their short-term protection, the latest Insurance Commission (IC) data showed.

As of June 30, 39.7 million Filipinos were covered by microinsurance—low-cost products covering agriculture, health and preneed, up from 36.8 million a year ago.

However, the number of insured as of end-June was lower than the 45.1 million in end-2019 and 48.2 million during the first quarter due to seasonality of products and their shorter terms.

In the first half, 27.4 million Filipinos had microinsurance coverage from mutual benefit associations (MBAs); 8.4 million from life insurers; and 3.8 million from nonlife insurance companies.

While the number of insured rose year-on-year for both MBAs and life insurance, nonlife coverage fell by 24.8 percent.

Also, total microinsurance contributions and premium production declined 16.5 percent to P3.5 billion during the first half from P4.2 billion last year.

Premiums of MBAs declined 17.8 percent year-on-year to P2.1 billion; of life insurance firms, down 14.5 percent to P1.1 billion; and nonlife insurers, down 14.5 percent to P405.1 million.

The IC earlier attributed the declining microinsurance contributions to the prolonged payment deadline extended by insurers to their customers at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, which restricted movement of people and non-essential goods.

The government targets microinsurance coverage among Filipinos to jump to 50 million by 2022 by making these already cheap insurance products available to more farmers and those living in disaster-prone areas. INQ