IC ramps up microinsurance, Islamic finance programs
With insurance penetration still below target, the Insurance Commission (IC) is turning to stronger microinsurance and Islamic finance initiatives to expand coverage.
Latest data showed that insurance penetration, or premiums as a share of gross domestic product, stood at 1.78 percent in 2025.
While this improved from 1.67 percent a year earlier, it remained below the IC’s 2-percent goal and continued to lag behind many regional peers.
IC Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado told reporters last Friday that the regulator had recently approved six new takaful products from four companies as part of efforts to raise penetration.
Takaful is a form of Islamic insurance based on Shariah principles, where members contribute to a shared fund that provides assistance to those who suffer loss or damage.
The newly approved providers include Pru Life UK, Etiqa Philippines, CARD Mutual Benefit Association and Stronghold Insurance.
Regalado added that the commission was also intensifying its focus on microinsurance, which is designed to provide affordable risk protection for low-income Filipinos.
“We are discussing all the other ways we can offer that. I’m telling them (life insurers) to try and see how we can have institutional programs so we can offer microinsurance,” Regalado said on the sidelines of a Philippine Life Insurance Association event.
“If you look at it per capita, the coverage of microinsurance is big. That’s why microinsurance is our priority to cover financial inclusion because that’s the most effective,” he added.
Regalado likened microinsurance to government assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, saying both are immediately available when disasters strike.
