While the Philippines has recorded over 15,000 coronavirus cases so far, life insurance players in the country have received few COVID-19 claims which could reflect low insurance penetration -reported local newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer.
For instance, AIA Philam Life has paid out only 10 claims related to COVID-19 so far according to chief marketing officer Leonardo Tan. He said these claims came from mostly senior citizens who are either from the middle class or have high net-worth.
"Majority of the claims were for death benefits. Technically, this is not a true representation of the real scenario as we have received only a handful of claims and our portfolio of medical products is quite new,” said Mr Tan.
Meanwhile, Philippine Life Insurance Association president and Sun Life Philippines chief executive and country head Benedict Sison told the Inquirer last week that there has been no surge in claims even though several life insurers are covering death caused by COVID-19 as well as offering polices that provide hospital income benefit when policyholders are afflicted by the coronavirus.
He noted that a major reason behind this trend could be the fact that not all coronavirus patients have insurance coverage as the Philippines is known to be an underpenetrated market when it comes to individual insurance.
“A lot of Filipinos are either not aware of the benefits of being insured and being invested or have not considered to be a priority,” he said.
However, he has observed that more Filipinos are now becoming more aware of the benefits of having insurance which means that insurers can continue to offer services in order to help them become financially secure amidst the ongoing pandemic.
By Ranamita Chakraborty
Asian Insurance Review