One of ICMIF’s members in the Philippines, the Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutual Benefit Association (CARD MBA), has announced a new policy, the ‘8-24’ strategy, aiming to pay its members’ insurance claims in under 24 hours. This will improve on its current claims policy (the ‘1-3-5’ strategy where claims were settled within one, three or five days) and provide even faster claims reimbursement to its members in times of crisis.
Ms May Dawat, CARD MBA General Manager, explains: “CARD MBA insures more than 14.1 million individuals who mostly come from disadvantaged communities. When uncertainty comes, these individuals depend on the benefits they can claim. In relation to their financial position, we have stepped up our “1-3-5” day method to the new “8-24” settlement strategy. Within eight hours to 24 hours the Association must be able to pay our clients’ insurance claims. This is our commitment to our clients who trusted us.”
CARD MBA’s renowned ‘1-3-5’ claim settlement strategy aimed to ensure that its members, some of the poorest people in the country, have the money they need immediately after suffering an unfortunate event. For example in 2013, the CARD Disaster Response Team provided immediate assistance to their members who were victims of Typhoon Haiyan by implementing its 1-3-5 strategy on insurance claims; 95% of members were paid within the 1-3-5 day target.
According to data released by the Philippines Insurance Commission, 26.6 million individuals, who are mostly poor, are now covered by microinsurance protection as of the first quarter of 2017. “With the increasing number of expectant Filipinos with insurance benefits, it is just right that they get the right and fast service when unexpected things happen to them or to their families,” Mr. Vener Abellera, the President and General Manager of CARD MRI Microinsurance Agency (CaMIA) explains. CaMIA is the microinsurance agency of CARD MRI, a group of mutually reinforcing institutions with a common goal of eradicating poverty in the Philippines and upholding the lives of Filipinos.
In order to achieve the 8-24 target, the microinsurance group has been appointing Certified CARD Claims Adjusters (C3A) to bring faster services to its insured members. CARD microinsurance group (CARD MBA, CaMIA, and CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc, CPMI) was aiming to appoint enough number of C3As before 2017 ended.
CARD MBA is the insurance arm of the CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI). CARD MBA offers simple loan protection insurance linked to loans from CARD’s banking arm together with other affordable types of life insurance cover to their policyholders, the majority of which are low-income women.
Pictures shows the CARD MBA Disaster Response Team assisting with relief efforts after Typhoon Haiyan.
