National Insurance Day boosts Insurance industry
On the 1st of September, the Insurance industry of Sri Lanka celebrated National Insurance Day and the beginning of an entire month dedicated to Insurance awareness. The President of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka, Deepthi Lokuarachchi and the Chairman of the Marketing and Sales Forum, Hashra Weerawardena shared their views on several aspects of the industry as well as the Insurance Awareness Month campaign that was recently concluded.
According to Lokuarachchi, the IASL began back in 1989 with a few companies - Ceylinco Insurance, SLIC, Eagle Insurance and Union Assurance, as its members. The organisation has now expanded to 26 companies. The IASL serves as a trade body in the Insurance industry. The organisation’s primary purpose lies in promoting Insurance. The IASL also resolves complex issues that members face, which cannot be resolved in isolation. The IASL steps into liaise and coordinate with government bodies or private organisations and resolve collective industry-related issues, when such disputes are beyond the mandate of those companies.
On the topic of developments brought about by the declaration of National Insurance Day and the Insurance Awareness Month campaign, the President of the IASL stated, “Last year the cabinet of ministers proclaimed the 1st of September as National Insurance Day and this year we commemorated the event for the second time. However, even prior to 2017 we have been carrying out the Insurance Awareness Month campaign during the month of September. In the last 5 years we have seen a growth in this respect, thanks to our increased activity level. All the Insurance companies have recorded high business volumes in the month of September. The IASL also introduced a series of competitions to coincide with Insurance month. One of the criteria of the competitions is that professionals are recognised and rewarded if they actually achieve a long level of persistence, which is the continuation of policies. According to the reports we have at the moment, there has been a high level of increase in the activities of all companies in the month of September, particularly in the life sector.”