Cebuana Lhuillier boosts line of microinsurance products

MANILA, Philippines – Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions (CLIS) is coming out with two new microinsurance products this year and has likewise joined discussions on the formation of microinsurance products focused on health and agriculture.

In a press briefing, CLIS general manager Jonathan D. Batangan said the products will be focused on a revised life version and a disaster-related one.

“The Philippines is one of the worst-hit by natural disasters, and it impacts the poor and most vulnerable,” he said.

CLIS has sold 12 million microinsurance policies since 2004. It presently covers five million Filipinos and paid claims worth up to P140 million.

“Our forecasts to sell an average of 1.2 million every month this year with the introduction of Alagang Cebuana Plus, (the revised version of its life product),” Batangan said.

Cebuana Lhullier president and chief executive officer Jean Henri Lhullier said they are not only an advocate of education and sports development.

“This time, we would like to instigate a whole new advocacy that would benefit a larger number of Filipinos. Today, we are giving our full commitment to contribute to our country’s disaster resilience trough microinsurance products and services we offer in Cebuana Lhullier and by actively promoting it for public awareness,” Lhullier said.

CLIS is part of the Cebuana Lhullier Group, one of the largest pawnshops in the Philippines. It has slowly evolved into one of the largest non-exclusive distribution platforms for allied services.

On average, its microinsurance product is worth P40 for a four-month period, with a coverage of P20,000. For each policy sold, it earns a 30 percent commission.

CLIS is not an insurance company but a distribution channel selling microinsurance products. Licensed insurance companies are the ones that write the policies.

Pioneer Life Insurance issues the insurance policies for CLIS.