Allianz offers insurance for low income people

JAKARTA. PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia has launched three new micro-insurance products targeting low-income people as part of its business expansion.

The new products, consisting of life, house and health insurance, are expected to generate Rp 70 billion in total insurance premiums in 2013.

 “We plan to sell the three new products through various micro-economic agencies [LKM] throughout Indonesia,” Allianz Life Indonesia vice president director Handojo G. Kusuma said on Wednesday.

 “If our strategy is successful, we will consider selling our products in minimarkets,” he added.

According to Handojo, the company will only sell its products in minimarkets after careful assessment of the products’ sales through the LKM.

 “If we offer the products in minimarkets and they don’t sell, it would obviously hurt our reputation. So we need to be careful,” he said.

Among the new insurance products, the life insurance gives the most benefits.

The life insurance covers up to Rp 25 million (US$2,103) for burial services and the replacement of a deceased breadwinner’s income.

The house insurance covers up to Rp 5 million for temporary housing to compensate for houses razed by fire while the health insurance covers up to Rp 100,000 a day for medical treatment and 50 percent of total surgery fee.

Allianz Life Indonesia emerging consumers business unit head Edi Yoga Prasetyo, meanwhile, said the company was targeting people with a monthly income of less than Rp 2.2 million.

Edi said most people were not aware of the benefits of insurance products because they lacked financial literacy.

 “Because of this, only a few people include insurance products in their expenses. People don’t wake up and decide to buy insurance products. They do so after they are prompted by promotional and marketing programs,” he said.

He said his company would devise programs to inform and educate people about the benefits of micro-insurance products.

 “We will also train our sales agents how to inform people about the benefits of micro-insurance because as our partners, they play a vital role in marketing our products,” he said.

Edi said the company’s total micro-insurance premium income reached Rp 60.4 billion in September, a 33 percent year-on-year increase, thanks to the role of new agents in attracting new clients in late 2012. (Ogi/The Jakarta Post)