More Filipinos seen buying insurance policies

The Insurance Commission expects the number of Filipinos with life insurance coverage to increase substantially given the progress in the promotion of micro-insurance.

Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc said the number of micro-insurance policies had already reached 3 million as of 2011.

“One company alone sold 1.1 million micro-insurance policies,” Dooc said. “This will definitely improve insurance penetration rate in the country.”

He said the Philippines had the lowest insurance penetration rate among the so-called Asean 5, at 1.04 percent of the population as of last year.

Asean 5 refers to the original members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

Data from the Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA) showed that the industry grew in 2011 by 21 percent in terms of premiums, which reached P85.8 billion from P70.7 billion in 2010.

PLIA president Gregorio D. Mercado said this was slower than the 23 percent growth in 2010. In value, the increase last year was larger at P15 billion compared to P13 billion a year before.

“Assuming that economic issues affecting Europe and the United States do not further worsen and adversely affect the Philippine economy, we expect another double-digit growth of 16 percent this year to bring premiums to P100 billion,” Mercado said.

PLIA cites micro-insurance as a contributor to the industry’s growth, with at least eight of its 33 member-companies having their micro-insurance products approved by the regulator.

These include Asian Life, BancLife Insurance, Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines, CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative, Country Bankers Life Insurance, Manila Bankers Life Insurance, Philippine Prudential Life Insurance and Pioneer Life.