Insurance protection in the Philippines remains out of reach for much of the population, even as the country faces increasing financial and climate-related risks.
According to Singlife Philippines chief executive officer Lester Cruz, the country’s insurance gap persists largely because traditional distribution models drive up costs for consumers.
“When the distribution model for most insurance companies is high cost, it becomes quite difficult to avoid the larger requirements for customers to be just purchasing a single product,” Cruz said, highlighting the link between operating expenses and premium prices.
He noted that many Filipinos – especially those in lower-income brackets – struggle not only with affordability but also with accessibility. Limited digital literacy among adults and a reliance on in-person agents create additional barriers.
“[It’s] very difficult for a lot of customers, historically, to gain access to insurance without having to pass through other people, agents. Sometimes, it could rather be an intimidating process to have to disclose to people the intimate details about yourself and about your presence,” Cruz said.
A lack of awareness about available financial products compounds these problems.
“Every single solution that we have in place right now, I would argue, is market-best. Our burden or challenge right now is to have as many Filipinos see what we’ve built and understand,” Cruz said.
To close these gaps, Cruz said insurers will need to shift toward digital systems that make policies easier to understand and purchase. Singlife, a subsidiary of Singlife Singapore and owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Life, is among the firms experimenting with these models through its mobile platform.
The company’s latest product, Singlife NextGen, offers flexible coverage and payment terms through its Plan & Protect App. The goal is to make insurance more accessible to consumers who have historically been priced out or deterred by complex sales processes, Cruz said.
