CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Bank of Florida Inc. (BOF)-Central Luzon, in partnership with the Country Bankers Life Insurance Corporation (CBLIC), launched a new insurance product over the weekend.
Dubbed as “Lingap Pamilya Microinsurance,” the product is designed to ensure protection for its current and potential customers against unexpected and financially draining adversities.
During the launching and signing of memorandum of agreement between BOF, Inc. and CBLIC, BOF chairman and president Teresa David-Carlos highlighted that the said microinsurance product targets people who do not have bank accounts and do not have any level of income that enables them to access the regular insurance product on the market.
“We realized the need to offer microinsurance as it is a given fact that the poor are more vulnerable in health risks, house calamities, accidents, and unwanted situations. Thus, they also need to be insured,” she said.
“Because if we are looking at it from a broader perspective, an insurance is a lifelong protection, a security for all the things that matter to us and our family,” she added.
The president also stressed that the new insurance product addresses one of the major concerns of the low-income sector, which is death in the family.
She explained that due to lack of financial resources to cope with the expenses related to a loved one’s death, many times the family of the deceased are forced to resort to desperate coping mechanisms, like depleting their savings, use cash meant for sustaining their livelihood, sell or pawn property, borrow under usurious conditions, and seek financial assistance from relatives and friends.
Through the “Lingap Pamilya Microinsurance” product, policyholders can have peace of mind that their family will receive financial assistance in case of death.
Moreover, David-Carlos also highlighted that through the launching of the new product, BOF will be able to help overcome the negative perception of many Filipinos, especially the low-income sector, about insurance services.
She added that the bank is committed to address the lack of awareness of insurance necessity and the low level of financial literacy in the country, especially among the poor.
By providing the right information and access of the low-income sector to insurance products and services, David-Carlos is positive that BOF shall enhance the country’s microinsurance market.
“We exerted tremendous effort to finally launch this product. And after two years, we are glad to offer this innovative microinsurance tailored for the low-income earners. Today, we will also conduct training for our staff, so that they can expertly and wholeheartedly sell it to our clients,” she noted.
CBLIC Business Development Unit assistant vice-president Juan Rabell Mendoza facilitated the said training.