Insurance awareness in PHL increased due to pandemic, Manulife says
AWARENESS of insurance in the Philippines has been growing during the pandemic as more individuals recognize the significance of these products compared with other countries in the region, Manulife Philippines said.
“What we’ve seen over the past two years is that the awareness and the appreciation for the importance of insurance has actually increased quite a lot,” Manulife Philippines Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Henson told ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday.
A Manulife survey conducted in November found 91% of Filipinos recognize the importance of insurance, higher than seven other markets surveyed in Asia.
However, the country’s overall insurance penetration rate or the industry’s contribution to gross domestic product is only at about 2.03% as of the third quarter of last year.
“(There’s) a lot of growing interest to purchase. In 2020, when we ran the survey, 77% told us they wanted to buy insurance or were planning to buy insurance in the next 12 months. This time, that number is up to 86%,” Ms. Henson said.
“The interest is there. What we need to balance is there still are serious concerns around their economic situation.”
More than half of surveyed Filipinos said their monthly income is not lower because of the pandemic, while 17% said they lost their jobs.
This means that savings are lower, as 79% of respondents said their savings would only last for up to a year.
“The perception is that the pandemic will go on for at least nine more months. So the restrictions and all of those things are weighing down heavily on the perceptions of financial wellness, and we need to balance that because there is a growing recognition of the need for insurance, which is great,” Ms. Henson said.
“What we’re working on at Manulife is trying to balance that and making sure we’re coming up with solutions that meet all of these evolving needs because the concerns have changed so rapidly in the past two years. So we want to make sure we’re offering new, relevant solutions that cater to evolving concerns but in a much more accessible and affordable manner.”
Manulife declined to release figures for its performance targets.
About 86% of Filipinos surveyed by Manulife said they plan to buy insurance products in the next 12 months, mostly in hospitalization, health, and life.
Most said they want simple insurance products, or those that can be bought online and are affordable.
Manulife surveyed 8,726 people in mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa has said he expects the insurance penetration rate last year to have surpassed the record 1.71% seen at the end of 2020. — J.P. Ibañez
