In an online meeting on Tuesday, the House of Representatives Defeat COVID-19 Ad-Hoc Committee (DCC) approved the substitute bills to the proposed "Philippine Economic Stimulus Act" (PESA), “Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act”, and “COVID-19 Related Anti-Discrimination Act” which would further help the country ease the impact of the COVID-19 economically, financially and socially The PESA bill is the House immediate response to jumpstart the economy amid the pandemic. The proposed economic stimulus budget for 2020 is P568 billion while the amount of P650 billion plus P80 billion are for the succeeding year 2021 which would be the start of the Enhanced Build-Build-Build Program. Meanwhile, the FIST Bill aims to develop and maintain a strong financial sector In the country and address the financial sector’s problems on its non-performing assets amid the pandemic.Lastly the proposed “Anti-COVID-19 Related Discrimination Act” makes it unlawful for any person, natural or juridical, to engage in discrimination against confirmed, suspect, or probable cases of COVID-19, repatriated overseas Filipino workers, health workers, responders and service workers.

World Economic Forum’s Insurance & Asset Management Industry Action Group (IAG) and ASEAN Insurance Council presents: “Building Resiliency Amid Uncertainty: Enhancing Societal Resilience for the Long-Term” COVID-19 has had a major impact on all industrial and services sectors across the globe. As Covid-19 traced its way through the Region from early year, all ASEAN members have adopted different approaches to deal with the outbreak. ASEAN is now learning to cope with the pandemic and the economic crisis that it has caused, thoughts are turning to economic recovery and what that recovery might look like. As economies begin to implement exit strategies in the region, join us for our Webinar. In this webinar we will hear from the World Economic Forum’s Insurance & Asset Management Industry Action Group (IAG), a platform to facilitate peer-to-peer exchange and further dialogue on the industry’s critical role in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of WEF ongoing efforts to articulate a long-term vision and mandate for the industry in the post-COVID world, WEF together with AIC would like to invite you to participate in the Virtual Meeting of the Industry Action Group on Tuesday, 25 August at 9.00am (JKT/BKK time)/ 10.00pm (NY time) to present: “Outlining the work of the Industry Action Group” The presentation will provide an update on the latest developments and provide insights on how to navigate the complexities of new economic trends which may surface, post COVID-19. Programme (JKT/BKK time): -      8.45 – 9.00          Participants are expected to join the Meeting -      9.00 – 9.05          Welcome Remarks by Mr. Nopadol Santipakorn, Chairman of ASEAN Insurance Council, -      9.05 – 9.10          Introduction by Mrs. Evelina F. Pietruschka, Secretary General of ASEAN Insurance Council, -      9.10 – 9.20          Briefing on the Outcomes of the work of the Industry Action Group (IAG) by Mr. Andre Belelieu, Head of Insurance & Asset Management Industry - World Economic Forum -      9.20 – 9.50          Discussion followed by Q & A -      9.50 – 10.00       Next step -      10.00                     End of Discussion Time:     Tuesday, 25 August 2020, 9.00-10.00am (JKT/BKK time)/ 10.00-11.00pm (NY time) Pre-registration required, please register before 17 Aug 2020 by accessing registration: https://forms.gle/KWYYenbL2AmJTnx96

Remember when Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the renewal of driver's licenses and motor vehicle registrations can begin once again under General Community Quarantine (GCQ)? Well, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has made it official. Starting on May 13, 2020, the LTO will resume operations in areas placed under GCQ. This was done by the LTO as these areas have been classified as low-risk or medium-risk areas for the COVID-19 pandemic. Motorists that wish to renew their driver's license or motor vehicle registration will have to follow health and sanitary protocols which shall be enforced by the agency. These are: 1) The wearing of face masks shall be mandatory 2) Physical/social distancing shall be observed at all times 3) Transactions of persons below 21 years old, those who are 60 years old and above, and pregnant women shall only be allowed upon lifting of the Community Quarantine, consistent with Executive Order No. 112, series of 2020 Drivers that had their licenses expired during the ECQ period can renew theirs without having to pay a penalty fee. This comes after the LTO extended the validity of licenses that expired between March 17 to May 15. This makes the licenses technically valid until July 14, 2020. In addition, the LTO has released the guidelines and schedules in the renewal of motor vehicle registrations. Depending on the last number of a vehicles plate number/conduction sticker/month of initial registration indicated in the Original Receipt (OR), vehicle owners can renew their MV registration during the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth week upon the resumption of work at LTO offices. With several parts of the country set to shift towards a more relaxed version of the quarantine, more LTO offices could open once again in order to serve motorists. The LTO, however, reminds everyone to please follow the aforementioned protocols as well as observe physical distancing guidelines in order to avoid contracting the disease. By Marcus De Guzman Autoindustriya Original Article: https://www.autoindustriya.com/auto-industry-news/lto-to-resume-operations-in-gcq-areas-tomorrow-may-13.html

INSURANCE COMPANIES are asking the Insurance Commission (IC) to “ease up” on some regulatory requirements to temper the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the industry. Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) Executive Director Michael F. Rellosa told BusinessWorld member companies have sought the relief to help them cope with the economic fallout. Investments have declined due to coronavirus-driven volatility in financial markets, while sales have slumped as Luzon and other parts of the country were placed under lockdown since mid-March. “We think we can survive this, but we have to ease up also on the regulatory regime. Since everybody felt the hit, can they go easy on us first so that we can continue doing what we are doing to help spur the economy,” Mr. Rellosa said in a Zoom call on Friday. He said the IC should suspend or lower the minimum net worth requirement of P900 million for this year and 2021 after the value of insurers’ assets were eroded by market volatility. “Investments namin bumagsak (our investments plunged), at the same time, may capital buildup program. So can we put a moratorium on the capital buildup program or can we peg it at specific level, and the RBC or the risk-based capitalization regime that we are also under, pwede bang (can they) i-relax naman nila ’yung levels,” Mr. Rellosa said. “Marami kaming hinihingi sa regulatory relief (we are asking for a lot in terms of regulatory relief).” Under Republic Act No. 10607 or the Insurance Code, insurers must have a net worth of at least P900 million by Dec. 31, 2019 and P1.3 billion by Dec. 31, 2022. New players must have at least P1 billion in paid-up capital. Most insurers complied with the minimum net worth requirement last year, but considering weaker market conditions and the bleak economic outlook, Mr. Rellosa warned the number of nonlife insurance companies could be halved by yearend. “If they are going to continue with the current levels of requirements, such as net worth requirements, RBC, kung lahat ’yan ipagpapatuloy medyo mahihirapan kami, siguro kalahati mawawala, out of 57, siguro mga 30 na lang maiiwan (if those will continue, it might be difficult for us to comply and around 30 out of our 57 nonlife insurance members could be gone),” he said. However, he said PIRA still has to consolidate the inputs of its 57 members before submitting a formal appeal to the IC. In mid-April, the insurance regulator conducted a survey to measure the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on insurance firms. Insurers were scheduled to submit the forms by May 8 and results were not yet available to the media as of writing. IC chief Dennis B. Funa has said insurance companies are “well-capitalized” to weather the risks of the coronavirus crisis, but their investments and sales will be hurt. Mr. Rellosa said sales of nonlife insurance companies have declined since most firms were not used to adopting work-from-home schemes, as well as depressed demand for their products. Despite lower revenues from the business disruptions, he noted companies continued to pay for their usual expenses such as rental costs, utilities and salaries. “Bagsak ’yung new business nila and ’yung renewals medyo nangalahati (New business is down and the renewals were halved). For different classes of insurance, iba iba ’yung effect but on a whole, medyo masama (the effect varies, but overall, it’s pretty bad). Sales went down,” Mr. Rellosa said. Meanwhile, Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. (PLIA) President Benedicto C. Sison has said life insurers expect their assets to suffer “some drag” due to local equity sell-offs, although equities only make up a small portion of their total assets. Sales of life insurance products also took a hit in the first month of the lockdown as the mobility of their financial advisors were restricted. Even with the online availability of some products, Mr. Sison said online sales still could not match the volume sold through licensed financial advisors as most clients still prefer face-to-face meetings before getting a policy. Mr. Sison noted an uptick in online sales of life insurance products, as more people wanted to get protection amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sales picked up after the IC allowed advisors to conduct “digitally enabled face-to-face selling” according to Mr. Sison. He added they expect sales to bounce back to their pre-pandemic numbers in the coming months as more Filipinos realize the benefit of life insurance. As of writing, the IC has not responded to queries on possible regulatory relief. IC has extended the deadline for submission of audited financial statements for its regulated entities, including life and nonlife insurance firms, to June 30 from the original May 31 deadline. The regulator also ordered insurance firms and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to extend for at least 30 days current policies and agreements expiring during the lockdown period. Meanwhile, several life and nonlife insurance companies have adopted general relief measures for policyholders, such as grace periods for premium payments and the inclusion of COVID-19 under the critical illnesses covered. The insurance industry’s premiums jumped 2.76% to P224.97 billion as of end-September 2019 from P218.91 billion posted in the comparable nine months in 2018. The life insurance sector accounted for P172.05 billion of net premiums written in the period, while the nonlife sector contributed 19.56% or P44.02 billion. By Beatrice M. Laforga Reporter BusinessWorld Online Original Article: https://www.bworldonline.com/insurance-firms-seek-regulatory-relief/

The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) in partnership with the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific (IIAP) and Computer Professionals Inc. (CPI) conducted a webinar entitled “Work In The Time Of Covid – Running Your Insurance Business During A Lockdown and Beyond.” The webinar is the first of a series of online learning opportunities that PIRA and IIAP are organizing to help insurance companies adapt with the limitations of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the webinar, Ms. Ma. Rosario “Ito” Gruet, co-founder and vice president of CPI, shared her insights on how insurance companies can still operate even on a work-from-home setup. Gruet highlighted the need for a framework that is composed of a company’s culture, its processes, and the technology that allows such processes to continue amidst the lockdown. “Work from home is the new normal,” she said. “This is a time of uncetainty for all of us.” Gruet went on to explain the process of “changing gears” in this lockdown by organizing, designing new ways of doing business, enabling people to work from home, securing the processes, managing the work, An online poll of the webinar’s more than 150 participants showed that 46 percent were ready to work online but had some challenges at the start. The rest were either not ready or barely ready, but a small percentage – 3 percent – declared themselves as fully ready. The webinar was co-hosted by PIRA Executive Director Michael Rellosa and IIAP Executive Director Francis Papa. Access the webinar here.

The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) today announced additional measures by the non-life insurance sector to support non-life insurance clients during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) brought by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. PIRA Executive Director Michael Rellosa noted that the health and safety of customers remain as the association's top priority. “Our PIRA member companies are committed to ensuring that the non-life insurance sector responds swiftly to evolving protection needs and continue to service customers safely during this challenging period,” he said. PIRA's additional measures to support customers include: • Some individual and corporate customers are now facing financial challenges brought about by the impact of COVID-19 and have difficulty making premium payments. PIRA members will work with impacted customers to review the financial difficulties and impact in each case, and to consider suitable installment payment plans or other options to reduce insurance cost. • Some insurers may offer customers flexibility in paying their insurance premiums using their credit cards, which includes installment payment plans. • Non-life insurers are servicing customers electronically (online) or through call centers in order to minimize face-to-face interactions. Customers are encouraged to leverage these in accordance with the latest guidelines from the authorities on the implementation of safe distancing measures. Customers should approach their respective insurers for details on these support measures. PIRA will continue to review these initiatives as the situation unfolds to ensure customers continue to be supported and serviced through this time.

The downstream insurance market continues to harden in Asia, with losses in countries, including Thailand and Korea, notes according to a new report by Willis Towers Watson (WTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. In the report titled “ESG: transforming energy’s risk landscape Energy Market Review 2020”, released yesterday, WTW says that the gap in pricing between Asian and London-based markets is reducing significantly, especially with a majority of the Asian markets making headquarter referrals before underwriting a risk. There are also elements of domestic hardening in countries like Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines amongst others. At the same time, the downstream market in China remains competitive for domestic risk following the COVID-19 lockdown and pandemic situation, which has affected supply and demand in the oil & gas industry. Upstream market On the other hand, the Asian upstream insurance market remains stable in respect of rate increases for operational business. However, there are significant increases in upstream construction rates. The Asian upstream construction market remains more competitive than their London counterparts for smaller projects with an estimated contract value of up to $500m. This hardening in upstream construction may be short-lived in Asia as volatile oil prices are causing project cancellation and delays. Such occurrences will put pressure on the markets regardless of their new business targets with less expenditure available. It will also create competition amongst the insurance markets to underwrite whichever projects that proceed. Mr George Nassaouati, head of WTW Natural Resources at WTW in Asia, said, “We cannot underestimate the immediate challenge faced in the loss of demand as a result of COVID-19 and the impact of the recent oil price war, notwithstanding the agreement now reached by OPEC+ to cut production by 10% of global supply. “While it is still too early to forecast exactly how these twin factors will play out in the months ahead, the potential effects on the energy industry are obvious; reduced capital expenditure, a reduction of exploration and production activities, lower refining margins and lower business interruption valuations. It will also have a knock-on effect on premium income levels for an insurance market that remains unprofitable for most lines of business.” He said that while the world will eventually recover from COVID-19 and the energy industry will recover from the oil price war, one issue that is here to stay on a permanent basis is climate change, and the transformed risk landscape that now confronts the energy industry. “In short, today’s energy businesses must commit to incorporating ESG standards and climate change into their risk mitigation strategies in order to ensure a sustainable future,” he said. Original Link by the Asia Insurance Review: https://www.asiainsurancereview.com/News/View-NewsLetter-Article/id/61255/Type/eDaily/Asia-Downstream-insurance-market-hardens-upstream-segment-stays-stable

COVID-19 for Insurers: 47 Questions to Ask Yourself by Ernest & Young LLP

A month after the eruption of Taal volcano, insurance companies have begun receiving claim notices from their clients affected by the calamity. The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association said seventeen of its members have reported receiving 157 notices of claims amounting to an estimated P36 Million worth of damage to homes, businesses and motor vehicles. These claims are now being processed, with some of them already paid. Among the companies that reported receiving claims for the Taal eruption, one insurer had a high of more than P14 million, half of which were from damages to property, while the other half were from other forms of insurance such as casualty and business interruption.  They also received a P258,000 worth of claims for motor vehicle damage. The insurer with the second highest number of Volcanic Eruption claims logged in at more than P3 million in property damage and about half a million pesos in motor car claims. Those who reported receiving claims for motor vehicle damage were Commonwealth Insurance, Stronghold Insurance, SGI Philippines Insurance, and Fortune General. PIRA Executive Director Michael Rellosa said 11 other member companies of PIRA sent them a report indicating that they have not received any notice of claims from their clients. “We are still awaiting reports from our other members, especially those who are into microinsurance. In natural calamities like this eruption, farmers and fisherfolk can really benefit from their microinsurance,” he said. Microinsurance is a type of insurance that caters to low-income sectors. It is usually sold via cooperatives and pays P5,000 as calamity benefit for incidents like floods, typhoons, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. For commercial insurance, only those with Acts of Nature coverage for their cars are covered for the Taal eruption. And only those with specific coverage for volcanic eruption for their homes or businesses may be able to file a claim. Rellosa said there is an extra premium for insuring for volcanic eruptions, and the rate for this is never fixed and varies from one insurance company to another. Insurance companies compute this rate based on the property’s proximity to an active or dormant volcano, as well as the historical events related to such a volcano. “To make sure that you are covered for volcanic eruption, please check your insurance policy,” he said. For those who are covered, filing a claim only needs basic documentation to prove one’s ownership of the insured car or property, plus proof of the damage incurred. In most cases, these include pictures and certification from authorities that the area was among those declared by government as affected by the eruption. Insuring against a Catastrophic Peril such as flood, earthquake or typhoon or an additional peril such as volcanic eruption requires a deductible or participation fee. “The deductible for Acts of Nature for cars is the same as that of Own Damage and may vary depending on the insurance company. For typhoon, flood and earthquake claims in property insurance, it is often pegged at 2% of the affected item or a minimal amount, whichever is higher. For volcanic eruption, the deductible is never fixed and would be dependent on the underwriter.

When Taal volcano erupted on January 12, 2020, thousands of Filipinos suddenly began calling insurance companies to check if they are eligible to claim for losses they incurred either for their house, their car, or for their business. For many of them, however, their houses only have the basic Fire insurance policy which protects them in case of fire. It does not include volcanic eruption. The same was true for those who have businesses in places like Tagaytay. The insurance they had for business interruption did not include volcanic eruption. Michael Rellosa, executive director of the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA), said these cases stem from the mindset of many Filipinos that insurance is just unnecessary and just an extra expense. “In their bid to save up on premiums, they just settle for the ‘minimum’ insurance cover or those that are required. Usually, just a Fire insurance policy for the house, or the most basic Business Interruption cover for their business. They do not anymore include a cover for VE or Volcanic Eruption,” he said. “This same thing happened in 2009 when tropical storm Ondoy flooded many parts of Metro Manila. Car owners suddenly realized that their cars were not insured against so-called Acts of God,” Rellosa added. Those who have AOG cover for their cars were able to have their vehicles replaced or repaired from their insurance policies. For vehicle owners with AOG who incurred damages on their cars because of the Taal eruption, they are eligible to file claims with their insurance companies. They just have to show proof that the damage was indeed caused by the eruption and file the usual documentary requirements in making insurance claims. “Disasters like this Taal eruption really highlight our vulnerabilities, and these vulnerabilities are the reasons why we get insurance,” said Rellosa. For more information about non-life insurance, log on to www.pirainc.com or call your insurance provider.