10 Years
FAQ • Contact •

Home > News About > Microinsurance > 2011 > October
News About
Network
Members
Microinsurance
Recent Publications
Network
Microinsurance
Network Resources
_3

West African insurance awareness campaign launched for farmers

Making Finance Work for Africa, 27 October 2011

A new regional index-based agricultural microinsurance platform was launched in Dakar, Senegal. The project, called Crop Insurance Sahel, will benefit 60,000 farmers over a period of five years in four West African countries: Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin.

The project, the cost of which is estimated at USD 4.4 million, will also raise agricultural insurance's awareness for 165,000 players in the insurance sector.

Launched with the support of PlaNet Guarantee and the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), this programme aims to reduce the fluctuation of income for West African farmers, fight for the deterioration of living conditions, secure agricultural finance mechanisms and contribute to the reduction of food insecurity.

Read full article

Nepalese Insurance Board calls for microinsurance

Republica.com, 23 October 2011

The Insurance Board (IB) has called upon all insurance companies in Nepal to expedite the process of issuing microinsurance policies so that low-income groups could cover life, health and sources of livelihood such as cattle or shops. Microinsurance programmes intend to expand insurance services in far-flung areas of the country so that low-income groups could purchase policies of a few hundred rupees and get coverage of up to Rs 100,000 (about 900 EUR).

The government has currently identified six microinsurance products that can be launched immediately in rural markets:

  • Livestock insurance is one such products under which only dairy cattle would be insured in the initial phase.
  • Health insurance is another product identified by the IB, which covers hospital bills of policyholders.
  • Personal accident insurance policy provides compensation in case the policyholder dies or becomes disabled because of accidents.
  • The government has also floated self-employment insurance scheme which provides compensation in case the source of livelihood of policyholders, such as tea shops, are destroyed by fire, floods or earthquake.
  • Other products include endowment and term-life insurance policies that provide a lump sum in case of policyholders´ death or after maturity of the policy.

Read complete article

Cheapest insurance product launched in the Philippines

Malaya Business Insight, 19 October 2011

Banko, a savings bank owned by the Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecoms and the Ayala Group of Companies, has launched the cheapest insurance product in the market to date.

Dubbed as "PaniguroKo," the microinsurance product of BanKo aims to protect the livelihood of the lowest earning Filipinos. The "PaniguroKo" premium costs PHP 1 (USD 0.02) per day or PHP 365 (USD 7.3) a year. However, the cover expires at the end of the period.

The life and asset insurance cover is limited to depositors of BanKo, the savings bank arm of the Ayala group. The cheap premium is also an instrument to attract deposits. The offer does not require medical and other examinations normally done on people who buy longer-term life cover.

The new programme stipulates that the insured will be paid PHP 50,000 in case of death from any cause. In addition, PHP 5,000 in assistance will be given the insured in case of fire and lightning if the calamity destroys the home.

Click here for to read article

Map of the index insurance initiatives worldwide

This website of the Forum for Agricultural Risk Management in Development allows users to search for active and closed index-based insurance projects in developing countries worldwide (similar to the Microinsurance Impact Stocktaking website).

FARMD

Each project mentioned in the map includes a link to additional project information including a description, the year it initiated and its status. The map unfortunately does not display multi-country projects and only projects in developing countries are a part of this database.

Click here to view map

Rural banks receive microinsurance license in the Philippines

Phil Star, 12 October 2011

Seven rural banks have received their licenses to offer microinsurance while another 40 rural banks are currently processing their applications with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Insurance Commission (IC).

This development is a direct result of an initiative to train and assist rural banks in becoming licensed and accredited microinsurance agents authorised to distribute microinsurance products and services from licensed partner insurance companies.

The Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation Inc. (RBRDF), which is the research arm of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), took the on the project under its Microinsurance Initiative. The initiative was designed to convene partners and stakeholders from the commercial insurance industry, donor institutions, project partners and government regulators that are active in the promotion of microinsurance in the country.

The RBAP has also launched a microinsurance website for all interested rural bankers to obtain up-to-date information about different products and services that they can offer in partnership with the leading insurance companies now offering microinsurance services.

Click here to read article

Indian Government urges insurers to offer simple healthcare insurance

Asia Insurance Review, 10 October 2011

India's Finance Ministry has asked state-run non-life insurers to expedite the launch of no-frills health insurance products targeting the poor, to help deliver affordable healthcare to the wider population. The business potential for insurers in this segment is estimated at INR 700 billion (USD 14.3 billion) in terms of premiums.

According to The Economic Times, among the four public and 20 private sector non-life insurers in the country, none offers a basic health insurance covering just the most prevalent diseases. At least two insurers, though, are in various stages of launching a basic policy to cover this group.

A no-frills product will be available at a lower premium as it will exclude low probability diseases. It will also restrict reimbursements, such as caps on charges covering particular diseases or medical procedures, to ensure that hospitals do not overcharge patients under the scheme.

Click here to read full article

Microinsurance actuarial toolkit being developed

University of Oxford, October 2011

The microinsurance toolkit is designed to introduce actuarial practitioners to key actuarial principles through case studies and illustrative spreadsheets, supported by a stylised review of literature.

This volunteer project is led by the UK actuarial microinsurance working party in association with Oxford University's Department of Statistics, and with financial support from the UK actuarial profession. The toolkit is currently under development with a target released date of June 2012.

Click here for more information

Nepali government pushes for microinsurance programme

MyRepublica, 29 September 2011

The finance ministry has directed the Insurance Board (IB) to identify 10 rural districts where microinsurance programme can be implemented. The ministry has given the board 15 days to complete the work.

Through the budget for the fiscal year 2011/12, then finance minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari had announced implementation of microinsurance programme within this year so that the low-income group could cover health and sources of livelihood such as crops, livestock and even rickshaws and tea shops.

Following the budget speech, the government had formed a committee comprising of two officials of the Insurance Board and one official each from six life and non-life insurance companies. So far, the committee has held four rounds of meetings and prepared a rough sketch of the kind of insurance products that could be launched.

Click here to read full article

Government in Pakistan eyes crop insurance

Asia Insurance Review, 3 October 2011

After the agriculture sector was devastated by two successive years of massive floods, the Pakistani government appears to be exploring the option of creating a state-sponsored crop insurance scheme to help offset the impact of natural disasters

According to The Express Tribune, President Asif Ali Zardari recently met officials from the government-owned State Life Insurance, Zarai Taraqiati Bank, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Finance Ministry to discuss ways in which crop insurance might be introduced in Pakistan.

State Life Insurance and the central bank will be working together to create a framework for how crop insurance might be introduced into the country. Among the ideas suggested to reduce the incidence of insurance fraud is the use of satellite mapping techniques which insurance companies might be able to use to accurately assess damage claims.

Click here to read article

Peruvian microinsurance company predicts profit in 2012

MicroCapital, 1 October 2011

Protecta, the microinsurance provider of Peru-based microfinance holding company Grupo ACP, is reportedly predicting that it will turn its first annual profit in the year 2012. Protecta had earlier planned to be profitable by 2014. Protecta, which started operations in 2008, sells life insurance and pension annuities to low-income families, controlling approximately 2% of the market among that income level as of 2011.

Protecta currently uses Banco de la Microempresa (Mibanco), the microfinance bank of Grupo ACP, as its main distribution channel. Looking to further increase penetration, it has started working with pharmacies, municipalities and universities to distribute its products. In 2011, Protecta also began partnering in an unspecified manner with the state-run Banco de la Nación, which is reportedly developing microinsurance programmes.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, holds 16.5% of Protecta’s shares. Protecta currently has approximately 850,000 clients.

Click here to read article

MiCRO to develop cholera microinsurance policy

Microfinance Focus, 21 September 2011

The Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organization (MiCRO) will develop a microinsurance model to insure Haiti’s women entrepreneurs against economic aftermath of cholera. The organisation’s three co-founders - Mercy Corps, Haitian microfinance institution Fonkoze and global reinsurance company Swiss Re announced their commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative 2011 in New York on Tuesday.

The microinsurance model will use indicators of cholera, such as rainfall, to trigger an automatic insurance payout, speeding up the process of paying individual claims. A disease caused by water-borne bacteria, cholera cases unfailingly increase during rainy seasons.

Swiss Re will begin designing the cholera product next month and a pilot test will take place with existing Fonkoze women borrowers in the spring of 2012. Mercy Corps will work with Fonkoze to manage the distribution and educational rollout of the cholera microinsurance policy pilot test.

Click here to read full article