Affordable microinsurance products registered a double-digit growth in the first three months of the year driven by greater public awareness and easing quarantine restrictions, the Insurance Commission reported.

In a statement, Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa said on Wednesday, Sept. 21, that microinsurance providers saw a 14.8 percent increase in total premiums to P2.65 billion in January to March from P2.31 billion a year earlier.

“It is likely that the continued relaxation of community quarantine protocols, taken together with the increasing awareness of the public of the importance of having affordable insurance products, led to the 14.8 percent increase in premium or contribution production,” Funa said.

“We have also observed that the lingering adverse economic impact of the pandemic at the micro level may have contributed to this increase, as those who availed microfinance or credit transactions were able to avail of the bundled microinsurance products,” he added.

At end-March, mutual benefit associations (MBAs) contributed 59.2 percent of the total premiums or contributions collected by the microinsurance sector amounting to P1.57 billion.

Meanwhile, life and non-life insurers mircroinsurance providers cornered 28.27 percent and 12.53 percent, or P749.96 million and P332.38 million, respectively.

In terms of the number of Filipinos secured by microinsurance products, it reached an estimated 44.81 million lives in the first-quarter.

Funa, however, noted that the total number of estimated insured lives by microinsurance products slightly contracted by 4.6 percent year-on-year from 46.97 million in the first quarter of 2021.

“MBAs remain to have the largest market share in terms of the number of estimated lives insured by microinsurance products, accounting for 57.45 percent of 44.81 million, or 25.74 million lives,” Funa said.

The life and non-life insurance sectors accounted for 33.36 percent and 9.19 percent of the market share, respectively, or 14.95 million and 4.12 million lives microinsured, respectively, Funs said.

As of March, there were 48 entities actively engaged in providing microinsurance products of which, 23 were MBAs, 11 life insurers, and 14 non-life insurance providers.