Sri Lanka’s dismal insurance reach: Only 12.5% of the population covered by insurance
The 7th Annual National Forum for Life Insurance Advisors (NAFLIA) held last week at the BMICH has become a forum to plan out strategies to provide life insurance to everyone in Sri Lanka. It was organised by the Marketing and Sales Forum of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka (IASL) Opening the sessions, Dirk Perera, President, IASL referring to the theme ‘A Day All Sri Lankans are Insured’ said that they have to think big and need to be more ambitious as they (insurers) are going to cover ever Sri Lankan.
He said that only 33 per cent of the working population and 12.5 per cent of the total population are insured and therefore they should strive very hard to make the people aware of the grave importance of insurance and should take every effort to increase the insurance cover of the people.
He said that these numbers must change and believed events like this portrayed the capability and the strength of the insurance industry in Sri Lanka. K. Ravikumar, Zone Chair South Asia, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals, making his keynote address said that in life insurance money is only a by-product and it is the business of kind hearts, good thoughts and selfless service and insurance can leave a legacy.
He said that the customer is the most important person for an insurance professional and explained the key factors and necessities in the life of a life insurance sales professional and their relationship with customers. During the panel discussion, moderated by Ms Indrani Sugathadasa, Chairperson, Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL), Mr. Perera said that there was a big improvement in life insurance in 2014 with 20 per cent growth over the previous year but 2015 it was not so due to various reasons. The reasons for the drop he said could be attributed to the fact that fuel prices went down, less savings, hospital charges went up, etc.
He said that improvements on insurance should now focus on technology, training and development. R. Renganathan, Managing Director/CEO, Ceylinco Life said that their policy application form was simplified and contains only four questions. The policy is adjusted to suit the requirements of the customer and they have found that the consumers pay the installments willingly. Hemaka Amarasuriya, Chairman, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation said that quality should be maintained in achieving targets and when achieving targets the economy of the country also benefits. He said that sales advisors with only two or three years’ experience would struggle to reach targets and therefore need enough training and development.