OIC touts cheap premium schemes

The Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) is pushing the idea of launching micro insurance schemes with cheap premiums designed for the grassroots and retirees.

“We are preparing to push forward a micro life insurance scheme where [customers will] pay a premium of only 20 baht per month, as well as a personal accident (PA) insurance scheme attached to state welfare cards to help medium- and low-income earners access affordable insurance protection policies,” said OIC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn.

The insurance industry regulator also plans to develop products such as pension insurance, lifetime insurance, long-term care insurance, insurance policies covering a variety of agricultural crops, fishing insurance, mining insurance and government property insurance.

The OIC will discuss the planned schemes with the new government.

Earlier, the OIC partnered with consumer and retail companies to market the Songkran Took-Jai micro insurance scheme, a low-cost insurance plan for Songkran, when road casualties and injuries tend to spike.

Premiums were offered at seven baht for a 30-day protection period, with compensation of 100,000 baht in the case of death from an accident.

Combined total premiums received from the life and non-life insurance industries were valued at 207.21 billion baht in the first quarter, down 4.1% year-on-year. The decline was led by a 7% reduction in life insurance premiums to 147.86 billion baht.

On the other hand, total premiums for the non-life insurance industry expanded by 4.1% year-on-year to 59.35 billion baht.

In total, the ratio of insurance premiums to GDP fell by 4.9% in the first three months, according to the OIC.

“The global economic slowdown, uncertainty from Brexit and ebbing trade in the first quarter had an effect on Thailand’s economy,” Mr Suthiphon said.

The OIC forecasts total insurance premiums of 830 billion baht this year, with a possible upward revision anticipated once the new cabinet is formed.