Pioneer Life sets stage for microinsurance in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - The long-standing notion about insurance suited only for high-and middle-income families and corporations has slowly waned in the current financial structures of today. As the country experiences more calamities and economic vulnerability than ever before, the focus of insurance providers has extended to those who need it most – low-income families most at risk of poor health, injury, adverse weather, and even death, but are less capable of recovering from these unforeseen events due to high premiums of traditional and commercial insurance.

Pioneer Life, the first to be granted approval by the Insurance Commission for their microinsurance programs, recognizes the pressing need of all Filipinos for access to financial services that allow them to cope after various shocks that leave them in deep water. To come to the aid of the Filipino, Pioneer Life has forged partnerships with various organizations to extend its microinsurance products to more Filipinos to better equip individuals and communities to withstand dents in their financial capacity.

Designed to tailor-fit the needs of various stakeholders and clients, Pioneer Life has developed products that provide accident, life, or property coverage. One of the company’s most recent partnerships was forged with Wellness Harvest, a Filipino-owned multilevel marketing company, where Pioneer Life supports the Wellness Harvest group with a Personal Accident Group Policy with Accidental Death and Dismemberment benefits. Wellness Harvest belongs to the new line of Filipino entrepreneurs marketing products even outside of the country; distributing superior quality products such as Wellness Coffee and Wellness Green Tea.

Likewise, a similar policy has been extended to the staff and members of VisionQuest, producers of Re:vive health drink and the Naturelife series of products, wherein Pioneer Life insurance coverage will come from a specially-developed savings and wellness program. Also belonging to the new breed of Filipino multi-level marketing or networking companies, VisionQuest prides itself in promoting personal and financial freedom in the market of nutritional products.

In another field, Pioneer has also made bounds reaching out to non-profit, non-stock, non-government organizations like Append and its member company Katuwang Resouce Center Inc. or KRCI. One of the first and largest microfinance groups that provides microententerprise development and education services to individuals of all religious and political affiliations, ethnicity and color, Append enables groups like the KRCI to offer sessions on microfinance, mirco-savings, micro-credit and business development. Pioneer will provide a microinsurance program to approximately 8,500 clients of KRCI to cover Basic Life insurance with provisions for accidents, accidental medical reimbursement, hospital benefits and property assistance.

Microinsurance has only been moving through the globe for a few years, but Pioneer Life has proven to be leading the pack in this industry. With the company’s partnerships with NGO’s and Microfinance Institutions, Pioneer is moving closer to its goal of transforming every Filipino into a saver. With the special programs and products that fit the needs of the low-income earners in the formal and informal economies, Pioneer Life, through its partners, enables Filipinos to become more involved and in control of their financial destinies.