To assist all PIRA members to use the MCIS V3 application which is to be launch in August 2018, PIRA scheduled a half day “Basic Steps in Mapping MCIS V.3 to Insurance Company System and Company Template-User Information” MCIS Technical Orientation, held last  July 20, 2018, Friday, AIM Conference Center Manila, Benavidez corner Trasierra Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City. The MCIS v.3, an enhancement of the MCIS v.1 & 2 was developed by NDPI in a web-based, online real-time & multi-user system to further capture data on motor claims to detect and safeguard member companies against fictitious/fraudulent claims settlement by two or more companies for a particular vehicle. The system will further gather information for the industry’s statistics on total losses, carnapped vehicles, substantial OD claim and other third-party claims for rating and pricing purposes that the Motor Committee is undertaking. The MCIS v.3 also enhances the COCAF system by interface link with the authentication process (LTO Registration) to the motor claims (MCIS) data. The linking will allow early detection by COCAF user if the vehicles have been reported as either total loss unit or carnapped/stolen, or has substantial OD claim at the point of COC registration Authentication. The MCIS v.3 system has undergone the User Acceptance Test (UAT) exercises as well as the COCAF-MCIS Integration test. Mr. Paul Jason Canapi from NTT Data facilitates the technical training together with Mr. Jaycee Dela Cruz, PIRA MCIS Project Manager. Mr. David Mercado PIRA Board of Trustees was also present during the event. PIRA Executive Director Mr. Michael Rellosa delivered welcome address to the participants. PIRA General Manager Mr. Roger Concepcion and Ms. Agnes Silaya are also in attendance together with Mr. Christopher Marquez and Mr. Cleto Obello, both from PIRA Motor Car Committee were also present to further explain the benefits of MCIS Data.

Ms. Franchezca Denise Espiritu and Ms. Catreena Anne Teng from University of Santo Tomas, College of Science, Department of Mathematics and Physics presented their thesis: "Analysis of the Factors Affecting Car Insurance Claims in the Philippines" to PIRA joint meeting of PR, Publicity & Marketing, Education and Motor Committees. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary of Findings From the sample space of 787 actual claims data of private and commercial vehicles, the sixth and last model using stepwise backward elimination regression showed that the policy type, accident place, driver’s weight, gender and age as well as the third and eighth restriction from the driver’s license are significant factors to gross amount of claims with 95% confidence interval. The factors that was not found to be significant were premium amount, years of driving experience, the driver’s height as well as their condition to wearing eyeglasses and the fourth driving restriction from the driver’s license. For the separate regression performed on motorcycles having a sample space of 16 actual claims data, only the driver’s weight and age are found to be significant. Conclusion Analysis on the actual claims data limited to the experience of a local insurance company which caters to the entire Philippines shows that policy type, accident place, driver’s weight, gender and age as well as the third and eighth restriction from the driver’s license are significant factors to gross amount of claims of both private and commercial vehicles. The driver’s weight and age were also found to be significant factors to the gross amount of claims of motorcycles. The results were limited to the information of the driver’s at the event of the accident and none for the assured thus failing to present a decent model for the occurrence of claims. However, results from the regressions shows consistency with other related studies specifically age being a significant factor costing the insurance company Php 400 less for every additional year in age for private and commercial vehicles and Php 219 less for every additional year in age for motorcycles on average. Recommendations Given the results of this study, the researchers were not able to properly model the frequency of claims due to the lack of data. Having the same information of the driver’s for the policyholders would be ideal in order to create a better model and to further come up with a suggested premium pricing. The researchers recommend that the gathering of data from new policies, narrowed specifically on the significant factors found, particularly their gender, their age, their weight, their policy type, their restrictions from driving a particular kind of vehicle found in their driver’s license and knowing whether or not they reside within Metro Manila would be helpful in arriving with the correct model.

MAKATI, Philippines -- The Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA) recently hosted a roundtable dialogue on agriculture insurance at the Asian Institute of Management, with no less than a senator of the republic and representatives from the World Bank and major insurance/reinsurance companies as participants. PIRA Chairperson Rebecca dela Cruz led the dialogue together with Sen. Cynthia Villar, principal author of the proposed law creating a climate-based insurance for farmers. Ms. Dela Cruz noted the importance of the event as she highlighted the role farmer’s play in the country's food security and the value of insurance in a country visited by at least 20 typhoons every year and faced with other climate change-related challenges. Sen. Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, discussed the salient features of Senate Bill No. 1759 or the Free Index-Based Crop Insurance which she authored to help small farmers deal with calamities. “With this Free Index-Based Crop Insurance, our farmers would then have a sense of pride. They would no longer queue for calamity assistance but instead, would go to an insurance company to file a claim for indemnity,” she said. Villar said the measure would enable the government, in partnership with the private sector, to provide specialized insurance to farmers affected by typhoons and other natural disasters. Envisioned to make insurance policies accessible to farmers, the climate-based crop insurance is new in the country but the Villar's committee has already consulted a number of experts and “we are on the final stages of bringing it to the plenary,” she said. The dialogue was participated by Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa and other officials of the Insurance Commission, executives from insurance companies, experts from World Bank, the University of the Philippines, and the weather bureau. With “The Role of Agriculture Insurance in Providing Social Safety Net for Farmers, and its contribution to the Country’s Food Sustainability Goals” as theme, the roundtable involved five focus points: 1) the perspectives of the industry towards agriculture, 2) the possibilities of its insurance, 3) the design of the products to be made available, 4) the system it will operate under, and 5) the role reinsurance will play in the scheme. Mr. David Gregori of Willis Re advised the participants to give importance to knowing the needs of the farmers and educating them about agriculture insurance. "Specifically knowing the consumers aimed to be protected by this system, identifying the risks to be covered, and ensuring the product type are key factors into the foundation of this law," he said. Meanwhile, PIRA Executive Director Michael Rellosa lauded the proposed agriculture insurance law even as he revealed important challenges that the private sector is facing in view of such measure. One major challenge that Mr. Rellosa highlighted was the need for accurate data that insurance companies can use in calculating risks. "Without data, we will just be relying on guesstimates," he said.

Asia Pacific College Chairman Ramon Dimacali raises the plaque of the new BS in Business Administration major in Risk and Insurance management course during its launch recently. With him are other officials of APC, the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific (IIAP), and the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA). Filipino students can now study insurance as a college course and become professional risk and insurance managers once they graduate. The Asia Pacific College (APC) and the Insurance Institute for Asia and the Pacific (IIAP)joined hands to develop the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in Risk and Insurance Management (BSBA-RIM) as a four-year course. Ramon Dimacali, who serves as concurrent chairman of APC and president of IIAP, said the APC-IIAP college course is the first of its kind in the country. It has been approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and will be available beginning June this year. "This is a very important milestone in insurance education in the country," said Dimacali who is also President and CEO of FPG Insurance. "We are fortunate in APC to have this. Our students are what the insurance industry needs because they think differently. They are trained to become disruptors and think out of the box," he added. The new course features 15 insurance related subjects ranging from Basic Life, Basic Non-Life, Suretyship, Claims Management, and other important aspects of the insurance business. "By taking these subjects, graduates of the new course will hit the ground running when they enter insurance companies. They can even serve as professional risk managers in other corporations, not necessarily involved in insurance," he said. The APC is a school of SM Foundation and IBM Philippines, established in 1991 to train IT professionals and managers to support the rapid deployment of technology solutions. It has been awarded by CHED as Center of Excellence for IT Education and Center of Development for Computer Engineering. It is also a partner of Microsoft Academy and Carnegie Mellon University Australia. The IIAP, meanwhile, is the only school for insurance professionals in the country. It offers specialized courses that cater to all lines of insurance. IIAP Executive Director Januario Aliwalas said the insurance industry is badly in need of new talents to fill its growing needs. "We tried to recruit new college graduates into a scholarship program to fast track their entry into insurance. But we can only graduate so much to fill the increasing skills and talent gaps. Now we will try to embed insurance knowledge in relevant degree course through our partnership with APC," he said.

In coordination with the City Government of Valenzuela City, Insurance Commission “ Microinsurance Awareness Campaign” goes to Valenzuela City May 18, 2018 held at AVR-B, 3rd Floor, Legislative Building, City Hall, Valenzuela City. In partnership with PIRA, PLIA and MBA this campaign is spearheaded by Atty. Juan Paolo T. Roxas, Insurance Commission - Acting Division Manager, Microinsurance Division. 47 Participants attended (Officer’s & Directors) from Cooperatives and Associations under the supervision of City Cooperatives and Livelihood Development Office- Valenzuela City. The event was very successful, participants are very delightful to know what Microinsurance coverage can do to them after unforeseen events may affect them.

In October 2017, the Insurance Commission created the IFRS17 Sub-Working Group (SWG-IFRS17) for each sector (Life, Non-Life, MBA, Pre-Need, and HMOs) signed by the Deputy Commissioner Ferdinand George Florendo with the following objectives: To determine the specific issues and concerns and propose guidelines to the  IFRS17 Technical Working Group (TWG-IFRS17); To provide the industry with the approved guidelines by the TWG-IFRS17  which shall be followed in the undertaking of the self-assessment on the impact of the adoption of IFRS17 in the Philippines The SWG-IFRS17 members appointed by the Insurance Commission for the Non-Life sector are composed of representatives from the Insurance Commission, PIRA Finance/IT/Underwriting Committees, Actuarial Society of the Philippines (ASP) and Auditing Firms - SGV & Co., Deloitte Phils., Isla Lipana & Co., RS Bernaldo & Associates, Reyes Tacandong & Co., and Punong Bayan & Araullo (P & A). INTENSIVE TRAINING SCHEDULE RS17 Orientation/Training for the PIRA members to be conducted by the consultants/auditing firms last May 15 and 17, 2018. For an effective and manageable conduct of the sessions, PIRA formed three (3) groups and assigned companies for attendance on specific date/time as follows: Speaker :  Deloitte, Phils. (Group 1) Date: May 15, 2018 (Tuesday) Time: 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm Venue: Navarro Amper & Co. Room MDAC 1 and 2, 19th Floor Net Lima Plaza 5th Ave. corner 26th St. Bonifacio Global City 1634 Taguig Speaker :  Isla Lipana & Co. (Group 2) Date   :  May 17, 2018 (Thursday) Time   :  8:00 a.m. to 11:30 Noon Venue:  Yuchengco Tower, RCBC Plaza, 6819 Speaker :  SGV & Co. (Group 3) Date   :  May 17, 2018 (Thursday) Time   :  1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Venue:  Training Room 4, 3F, STI Holdings Center, 6764 Ayala Avenue, Makati City

German Development Cooperation GIZ- RFPI Asia Study Report April 2017 GIZ are pleased to share with you the study on “Public Financial Attitudes, Behaviors and Online Transactions in Leyte and Agusan del Norte”. Link Address; http://www.inclusiveinsuranceasia.com/files/ipsos_report_13Mar2018_final.pdf This study will provide an overview of the Non-Life insurance industry in the Philippine on online client behavior, which could promote the expansion of access to microinsurance, through this platform. GIZ request the publishing of this study through the PIRA portal to enable access by more Non-Life insurance companies in the Philippines.

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