Correct me if am wrong, but paying either life or non-life insurance isn’t a concept most, if not some, Filipinos take to. Perhaps, it’s our sense of fatalism, or feeling invincible, or simply not having the budget to pay extra when it’s more urgently needed for school fees and other necessities.
Some only take on insurance because purchase of their house or their car is funded by the company they work for. I had this belief myself, until approaching old age led me to think about the future of my children and other ponderable “what if’s…….” A little savings, even a few million pesos, certainly isn’t enough to assure my school-age children of support in the event of my death. More so now that pre-need companies have shown their inefficiency and have gone bankrupt.
Now it has taken the destruction wrought by Typhoons Ondoy & Pepeng in the Philippines for most people to rethink their stand on buying insurance to protect their life’s most precious assets. How many were actually caught red-handed when calamity struck because they didn’t read the fine print clearly enough? Most people only procured fire insurance for their houses, and not against floods. Those with cars got comprehensive insurance, but didn’t care enough to include the all-important “Acts of God” provision. The “Acts of God” clause protects your assets against accidents, disasters and other occurrences which are not man-made such as earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis. In short, calamities which are caused by nature.
I do believe that Filipinos should get insurance for their life’s investments, for as long as we are financially capable. No, it really should be made compulsory. Ignoring good judgment doesn’t make sense when we are visited by destructive typhoons every year. Ditto with those who live in earthquake fault lines and overlooking areas with active volcanoes.As we all know by now, places who pride in calling themselves Riverside, Riverfront, Riverview, Lakeshore, Bayhomes and other fancy names are at strong risk too, because of the ever-present possibility of floods and water inundation.
Insurance used to be the last resort of the seguristas. But for the pragmatic, it represents foresight in preparing for some of life’s inevitable events.
Insuring ones property against natural disasters (flood, earthquake, etc.) makes a lot of sense. The only problem is when such a disaster strikes it covers a wide area of destruction that insurance companies may not be able to meet their liabilities and will just declare bankcruptcy to legally excape their financial obligations to the insured. What do you think?
Hello Bert. I guess it pays to enlist with very reputable companies. My agent tells me these insurance companies are required to post a P200 million bond, which they are not required to touch. And there’s the Insurance Commission in the Philippines to oversee them. Btw, the news says Ondoy insurance claims have reached approximately P11 billion.
Learned my lessons when my car was damaged during Typhoon Frank. Insurance did not honor my claim. Included “Acts of God” when I renewed my car insurance.