Philippine Prudential reports hike in microinsurance payouts

Philippine Prudential Insurance company paid more than P22m (€391,000) worth of claims in 2011, a significant increase on 2010 when payouts totalled P2.49m.

As reported by online publication the Business Mirror, company officials attributed the growth to a vigorous pursuit of the programme championed by former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Rafael Carlos Buenaventura.

Philippine Prudential was providing protection to ordinary Filipinos at the retail end of the business long before the programme gained prominence as a viable source of sustainable revenues for insurers, the publication said.

"We have been pioneering the field of microinsurance in the Philippines as a way to make insurance coverage and protection more accessible to everyone," said Philippine Prudential president and CEO Gregorio Mercado.

"We've had success in going beyond the standard insurance plans and creating products that cater specifically to the needs of customers who may not be able to afford the standard insurance plans."

Microinsurance products in the Philippines involve premium payments of as low as P1 to P19 a day, with benefits as high as P190,000 per policy.

Microinsurance claims make up 16.84% of the total paid by Philippine Prudential in 2011, which amounted to P135.80m.

The firm said it also recorded a total of P26.73m in microinsurance premiums in 2011, an increase of 186.16 per cent against the P9.34m in 2010.

As one of the country's major microinsurance providers, Philippine Prudential also caters to the group life insurance needs of microfinancing institutions such as non-governmental organisations, cooperatives and rural banks that provide small loans to developing communities.

The company is currently one of the microinsurance partners under the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines' Microenterprise Access to Banking Services programme.