Philippines: Number of non-life insurers to dwindle for want of funds
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Aug 2017
Philippines Property & Casualty Regulation
Five non-life insurers have decided to voluntarily exit the insurance business, mostly because they are unable to comply with requirements to increase net worth, said the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA). They are currently servicing existing policies, reported Rappler.
At the same time, eight players are preparing for mergers, bringing down the projected number of non-life insurers to 54 by the end of the year, from the current 63.
Under the insurance law, existing insurers must have a net worth of PHP550 million (US$11 million) by December 2016, PHP900 million by December 2019 and PHP1.3 billion by December 2022.
Mr Antonio Roderick Cabusao, assistant vice president for marketing and sales of Liberty Insurance, and a member of PIRA’s Public Relations and Education Committee, said: “It’s not because they’re losing money. It’s just that they don’t have enough money right now to comply with the future requirement.” A