Tag: insurance

Microinsurance: Abot-kayang klase ng insurance

Pinaka-essence ng insurance ang pooling of risks over a large number of similar units such as households, persons or businesses. Inispread natin ang risk para yung financial loss ay hindi lang sa atin tatama.

Insurance should not be treated as an investment

Hindi dapat pinagkakakitaan ang insurance dahil hindi ito investment. Para itong bayanihan, you are protecting against financial loss. Hindi financial gain ang habol dito kundi protection from financial losses. Nagbibigay ng proteksyon ang insurance ng katumbas na halaga sakaling mawala ang isang bagay.

Ang insurance ay involved with exchanging the uncertain prospect of large losses for the certainty of small, regular premium payments. Nagbabayad ang maraming tao at pino-pool natin. Ibig sabihin, nagbabayad tayo ng malilit para kapag may tinamaang isa sa pool na ‘yon ay may matatanggap to compensate for the loss.

Sa mga pagkakataong may biglang mangyari sa‘yo na hindi maiiwasan, kahit paano ay makakatulong sa mga mahal mo na may pagkuhanan sila sa ganyang pagkakataon. Yan ang insurance. Sana malinaw na malinaw yan.

Microinsurance defined

Ang microinsurance ay nakapaloob sa batas natin under RA 10607, otherwise known as the Amended Insurance Code. Ito ang definition na nakapaloob sa ating batas. It meets the risk protection needs of the poor. Ang target nito ay iyong mga nasa laylayan, mga low-income households kaya micro ang tinatawag diyan.

Ayon sa batas, ang premiums, fees and charges ng microinsurance does not exceed 7.5% of the current daily minimum wage. Sa PhP570 na daily minimum wage dito sa NCR, PhP42.75 ang katumbas nito. Kung gagamitin ang 260 days na average number of annual working days, hindi dapat lalagpas sa PhP11,115 kada taon.

Ito ang sinasabi sa ating batas na mga benefits na makukuha sa microinsurance: ang guaranteed benefits should not exceed 1,000 times of the current daily minimum wage. Katumbas ito ng PhP570,000 kung gagamitin ang parehong rate sa itaas.

Microinsurance for OFW family members

Very relevant ang microinsurance sa mga OFWs, dahil ginagawa silang “insurance” ng mga kamag-anak dito sa Pilipinas. Puwedeng ikuha sila ng microinsurance para hindi mga OFWs ang gagawing insurance policy.

Mas mura kasi ito. Magbabayad ng maliit na premium ang OFW para icover ang kanilang family members. Kapag may nangyari sa kanila, yung insured amount ay makukuha ng mga beneficiaries mula sa insurance company. Mapuputol ang dependency of family members sa OFWs.

Microinsurance for protection

So, there mga besties, ito ang detalyadong discussion ng microinsurance.  Laging tandaan na nag pagpaplano ng maaga ay isa sa pinakamagandang decision para kinabukasan mo at ng iyong mga mahal sa buhay.

Forms of insurance

May apat na forms ang insurance – formal, informal, public at hybrid.

Pooling of risks over a large number of similar units such as households, persons or businesses ang insurance. Inispread ang risk para ang financial loss ay hindi pasan lamang ng iisa kundi ng marami.

Formal insurance

Galing sa corporations and cooperatives ang formal insurance. Formal insurance ang tawag sa kanila dahil sila ay regulated ng Insurance Commission.

A cooperative is owned by members. Ang corporation on the other hand is a capitalist at profit-led. Mayroon ding Mutual Benefit Association (MBA) under formal insurance. Ito ay mga non-profit forms ng insurance companies sa Pilipinas.

Para sa akin, ang gusto ko talaga ay MBA o di kaya’y cooperative kasi hindi profit ang nauuna. Iyong kapakanan ng tao ang nangunguna.

Informal Insurance

“Damayan-based” scheme ang informal insurance. In Ilocano, damayan means “saranay”. Sa mga Bisaya, ito ay “dayong”. Sa mga Muslim brothers and sisters natin, ang tawag dito ay “takaful.”

Mahaba na talaga ang kasaysayan ng insurance dito sa Pilipinas. Dahil ingrained sa ating mga Pilipino ang damayan. Ginulo lang ito nga mga Westerners dahil ang ginawa nila itong for profit na siyang mas namamayagpag ngayon. Sa akin, ang insurance ay hindi dapat for profit.

Public Insurance

Idinagdag ko ito dahil ito ang mga social safety nets o social insurance schemes na ibinibigay ng gobyerno para sa atin. Examples nito ay ang mga insurance benefits – health, sickness, disability, unemployment, death etc. mula sa Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth at SSS.

Hybrid Insurance

Combination of both formal and informal forms ang hybrid insurance. Pinaghalo ang dalawa. May mga programa ding bukod sa formal at informal ay idinadagdag ang public insurance tulad ng Social Welfare Protection Program (SWEPP) ng SEDPI.

Kinds of insurance

Pooling of risks over a large number of similar units such as households, persons or businesses ang insurance. Pinaghahati-hatian ng maraming ang risks – tulad ng kamatayan, pagkakasakit, aksidente, kalamidad – para ang financial loss ay hindi pasan lamang ng iisa kundi ng marami tao.

Term insurance
Upon death of the insured, may benefits paid to beneficiaries ang term insurance. May matatanggap na benefit sa mga beneficiaries kapag namatay ang insured. Ibig sabihin nito, kailangang may mamamatay (yung insured) para may tatanggap nito.  Gusto n’yo ba ang claim na ito?  Siyempre hindi, di ba? Kung sa akin lang, gusto ko buhay ako!  Pero yan ang reyalidad sa buhay na hindi maiwasan. That goes without saying, lahat tayo ay mamamatay. Mangyayari at mangyayari ‘yan, kaya dapat lang na paghandaan.  Sino ba sa atin ang hindi mamamatay?  Kung breadwinner at may mga dependents, dapat kumuha ng term insurance. Pero kung walang dependents, hindi kailangang kumuha ng life insurance.

Disability insurance Benefit paid to beneficiaries upon disability o pagkabaldado ang disability insurance. Ibinabayad sa mga beneficiaries kapag yung insured ay ma-disable. Again, ito ay para sa mga breadwinners at may mga dependents.

Credit Insurance
Kung may utang tapos, kumuha ng credit insurance para kapag namatay ay hindi maipapasa sa estate ang utang. Ang insurance company ang magbabayad ng utang mo, in case na may mangyari sa iyo.  Kaming mga may-ari ng financial institution na nagpapautang sa mga micoenterprises ay ikinukuha naming sila ng credit life insurance. So that in case na may biglang mangyari sa kanila ay hindi na kami tatakbo pa sa mga naiwang kamag-anak na maningil sa utang ng yumao.

Crop Insurance
Protection for poor crop yields and natural disaster recovery ang crop insurance. Ito ay ibinibigay kung mayroong natural calamities o di kaya’y natural disasters na tatama sa mga magsasaka tulad ng bagyo, pagbaha, drought, peste at marami pang iba.

Health Insurance
Medical coverage for illness and injuries ang health insurance. Kapag naospital o di kaya ay inoperahan, ang health insurance ang magkocover ng mga gastos sa hospital.

Property Insurance
Protection para sa damage, destruction and theft of household assets ang property insurance. Kung nagmamay-ari ng sasakyan, bahay, inventory ng business o warehouse, puwede itong iinsure.

SEDPI’s Group Yearly Renewable Term Insurance

SEDPI offers Group Renewable Term Insurance (GYRT) in partnership with CLIMBS, a service more catered to common Filipino households.

Term insurance provides protection against emergencies for a specific period of time. As lifetime coverage is not always needed, term insurance provides cheaper premiums with larger benefits. On average, investment-linked insurance schemes charge PhP80,000 in premiums.

For the same PhP1 million coverage, individual term life insurance premiums can be as low as PhP5,500 for ages 21-30 and cap around PhP21,000 for ages 51-60. SEDPI’s Group Yearly Renewable Term has PhP500,000 life benefits and PhP500,000 accident benefits. For ages 18-60, the premium is PhP4,000. This makes it even more affordable compared to individual term insurance policies. Due to its affordability, participation in group insurance is high.

Group insurance means that one contract is issued to cover a group of people. In this case, SEDPI is the policyholder. As a SEDPI member, one is entitled to access this group insurance program, even if they are abroad.

OFWs dealing directly with Philippine-based insurance agents are constrained by a lack of international selling licenses. Since SEDPI is the policyholder an directly deals with CLIMBS, OFWs can participate in the insurance program. Eligibility is determined by membership to SEDPI, and the process does not require rigorous underwriting due to the large number of members.

Yearly Renewable insurance indicates that the insurance protection coverage is active for one year. The annual premium must be paid in order to restart coverage for the following term.

The group’s performance based on mortality rates is evaluated each year. A higher mortality rate may mean a higher adjusted premium the following year, but a lower mortality rate than average can lead to a lower premium for the group.

SEDPI members in Mindanao have exhibited lower mortality rates, and SEDPI is in negotiations with CLIMBS to lower the premium for this group.

Enter keyword GYRT on Vince Rapisura’s Facebook messenger to join.

SEDPI’s Social Welfare Protection Program

SEDPI offers the Social Welfare Protection Program (SWePP), where members can avail microinsurance coverage for their families in the Philippines or themselves. SWePP is a consolidated microinsurance and social safety net program and provides security and protection to low-income SEDPI members.

As a hybrid form of insurance, it adopts formal, informal, and government social insurance programs. It partners with a formal insurance provider, has a damayan portion, and also partners with government agencies – Social Security System (SSS) and Home Development Mutual Fund’s Pag-IBIG or Pag-IBIG.

SEDPI serves to make government services more available to poorer communities. Low income households, which make less that PhP240,000 a year; microenterprises such as farmers and fisherfolks, and OFW family members are recommended to get SWePP.

SWePP provides (1) CLIMBS Life Insurance, (2) access to SSS and Pag-IBIG, and (3) Damayan for fire and calamity assistance. SEDPI is in talks with PhilHealth to include health insurance in the future.

SWePP benefits include up to PhP80,000 life and accident insurance from CLIMBS; and PhP5,000 for fire protection and PhP500 worth of relief goods from the damayan component. These benefits are offered for an annual membership fee of PhP720.

SEDPI is an accredited collection agent of SSS, meaning that payments can be remitted through SEDPI to be paid to the SSS. Becoming a member of the SSS and making one contribution entitles members to a PhP20,000 death benefit. The minimum contribution is PhP360.

For a one time payment or contribution, SSS provides lifetime benefit of funeral protection. With three contributions per year, members are eligible for sickness and maternity benefits.

If a member makes 36 payments before the age of 65, they are given lifetime coverage for disabilities as well as additional death benefits. If a member makes 36 payments, then up to the age of 60, they can also enjoy unemployment benefits.

Making 36 to 119 contributions will gain the benefit of a lump sum pension. Making at least 120 contributions will give the benefit of monthly pensions. Vince Rapisura, SEDPI Group President, recommends that members aim to make approximately 500 contributions to their SSS. More contributions equal higher pensions.

SEDPI’s is also an accredited collection agent of Pag-IBIG. When one becomes a member of Pag-IBIG, one contribution every six months provides a PhP6,000 death benefit.

Pag-IBIG is a complement to retirement funds of Filipinos because of its high dividends. As the national savings program of the government, members are eligible to receive their total accumulated value, which is equivalent to personal contributions, employer contributions, and your dividends. The returns are promising, and they compound.

Pag-IBIG also grants access to socialized housing loans at a 3% per annum interest rate, up to a maximum of PhP580,000. OFWs are charged market rate, but this amount typically hovers around 5% – 7% per annum. Up to PhP6 million can be loaned.

For its microfinance operations in Mindanao, SEDPI is planning socialized housing projects for its members in partnership with Pag-IBIG. It has already acquired 7.1 hectares of land and is in the process of acquiring 4 hectares more in the provinces of Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur. Construction and development are planned for 2021.