Insurance industry lauds Budget 2022 for enhanced protection for B40

KUCHING: Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) lauds and supports the government’s initiatives in enhancing social protection through incentives to assist the Bottom 40 per cent (B40) households and micro, small and medium business segments under the Budget 2022.

The government’s initiatives will assist in promoting financial resilience of the economically disadvantaged and vulnerable segments in society through the encouragement of the purchase of general insurance cover on certain types of policies.

Budget 2022 allocations include stamp duty waiver for all individual and micro/small and medium enterprises (SMEs) general insurance policies with premiums below RM150 and RM250 respectively.

This will not only directly benefit the B40 segment and micro, small and medium size businesses but additionally during such difficult economic times, gig economy workers will stand to benefit from the extension of stamp duty waiver for individual policies.

Smaller-size premium general insurance policies sold via ecommerce or online platforms are also expected to benefit from the stamp duty waiver.

Note that this is in addition to the waiver of stamp duty previously granted for Perlindungan Tenang products.

The Perlindungan Tenang Voucher (PTV) initiative which was launched on Sept 30, 2021 to assist the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) recipients in taking up insurance cover in the form of premium subsidy provided by the Ministry of Finance 2 was given a boost with the subsidy being increased from RM50 to RM75 in 2022.

This is expected to bring direct and immediate benefit to about 8.4 million BPR recipients.

There is further good news as the PTV will be expanded to include purchase of comprehensive motorcycle policies below 150cc thus directly benefiting the B40 segment and workers in the gig economy reliant on such transport modes to earn a living.

The government has also announced the allocation of a RM14.2 billion fund to assist SMEs.

“The inclusiveness of Budget 2022 will assist Malaysians particularly for those in the B40, M40 income groups as well as the micro, small and medium enterprises struggling from the economic effects of the Covid19 pandemic,” PIAM Chairman Antony Lee said.

“These social protection initiatives will not only foster economic recovery but also improve livelihoods to pave the way in increasing insurance penetration rate while extending the insurance safety net to as many Malaysians as possible which is in line with the national agenda.”