The Insurance Commission is considering offering insurance products for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in three regions worldwide.
IC Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado told reporters that they are already coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers on the proper circular to execute this initiative without violating the current regulations.
“We're even looking at having it on a pilot basis in certain countries, we don't have a possibility of having some problems on how they would pursue these things,” Regalado said.
“We want to have one in the Middle East, one in Asia, and one in North America, at least. So three or four, but we're still not very clear on that,” he added.
Regalado said that he wanted these insurance products to be directly paid, citing that having a representative on behalf of the OFW could not assure that the insurance was being paid.
Currently, it is not permissible for Filipinos to engage in insurance contracts while residing overseas, as doing so would render the contracts null and void.
Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto earlier showed support for making available insurance products to strengthen financial literacy among OFWs
“We should intensify nationwide financial literacy initiatives, covering a broad spectrum of insurance products available in the Philippine market and extending beyond reach to our overseas Filipinos,” Recto said.
Under the current policy, OFWs are mandated to be physically present in the country to complete a purchase of life protection products from local-based companies.
As of 2020, the latest figures for the number of OFWs were around 1.77 million, while their total remittance contributions amounted to P134.77 billion, accounting for at least 9.6 percent of the total gross domestic product.
According to the study commissioned by Pru Life UK titled “Improving Access of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to Life Insurance,” the recent pandemic revealed the country’s lack of preparedness in terms of OFWs’ repatriation and reintegration into their home country.
It said that agency-hired OFWs are only entitled to accidental death benefit of $15,000, natural death benefit of $10,000, permanent total disablement benefit of $7,500, subsistence allowance benefit of $100 per month for a maximum of 6 months,
In addition, OFWs are also money claims benefits for three months for every year of employment contract with a maximum of $1,000 per month.