The Insurance industry of Sri Lanka celebrated National Insurance Day on September 1 and the entire month is dedicated to Insurance awareness month.
The President of the Insurance Association of Sri Lanka, Deepthi Lokuarachchi and the Chairman of the Marketing and Sales Forum, Hashra Weerawardena shared their views on several aspects of the industry as well as the Insurance Awareness Month campaign that was recently concluded.
According to Lokuarachchi, the IASL began back in 1989 with a few companies - Ceylinco Insurance, SLIC, Eagle Insurance and Union Assurance, as its members. The organization has now expanded to 26 companies. The IASL serves as a trade body in the Insurance industry.
The organization’s primary purpose lies in promoting Insurance. The IASL also resolves complex issues that members face, which cannot be resolved in isolation. The IASL steps into liaise and coordinate with government bodies or private organizations and resolve collective industry-related issues, when such disputes are beyond the mandate of those companies.
On the topic of developments brought about by the declaration of National Insurance Day and the Insurance Awareness Month campaign, the President of the IASL stated, “Last year the cabinet of ministers proclaimed on September 1, as National Insurance Day and this year we commemorated the event for the second time.
However, even prior to 2017 we have been carrying out the Insurance Awareness Month campaign during the month of September.
In the last 5 years we have seen a growth in this respect, thanks to our increased activity level. All the Insurance companies have recorded high business volumes in the month of September.
The IASL also introduced a series of competitions to coincide with Insurance month. One of the criteria of the competitions is that professionals are recognized and rewarded if they actually achieve a long level of persistence, which is the continuation of policies. According to the reports we have at the moment, there has been a high level of increase in the activities of all companies in the month of September, particularly in the life sector.”
When asked what post-event results the IASL hopes to see following the conclusion of this year’s Insurance Awareness Month campaign, Lokuarachchi replied, “It’s a very tight market condition with stiff competition. All the companies are trying to maintain a steady level of growth. So I think if a company can achieve at least 5-6 notches above their pre-determined rates of growth, that would be an extremely positive outcome of this year’s campaign.”
Lokuarachchi also spoke of the most significant challenges currently faced by the Insurance industry. In his opinion the primary challenge faced by the industry is the prioritization of the people. The necessity of Insurance is displaced by various other needs and wants. In the case of many people, Insurance occupies a very low place on their list of priorities. So the message the IASL wants to send out is that Insurance should be one of the highest priorities of anyperson. “Living in an Asian culture we are deeply involved in the well-beings of our immediate families so therefore it’s important that people pay attention to it and provide for their future through Insurance”, the President of the IASL elaborated.
“If you look at the demographics of the country today, there is a fairly large population of young children and at the same time we also see an aging population. Life expectancy has increased to 72. People are now looking for living benefits in the form of health Insurance, annuities and pensions, in order to have some amount of money that they can use in retirement. We also see that with improved literacy and safety facilities the number of early deaths have reduced. The companies should gear up and give people affordable products and also provide them with a mechanism that saves as well as protects. On the other hand, I also think that Insurance companies should provide health care benefits because I think health care facilities have become very expensive in the private sector and the facilities in the government sector cause a number of inconveniences, such as extended waiting periods. Health factors cannot be put on hold; they need to be attended to”, said Mr. Lokuarachchi in response to the question of means by which Insurance companies can successfully maintain customer interest.
Speaking about the role of the MSF in the IASL, Mr. Hashra Weerawardena stated, “The Insurance Association of Sri Lanka is an institution made up of 26 General and Life Insurance companies. The association comprises of a number of sub-committees, each with its own purpose and agenda. The Marketing and Sales Forum (MSF) takes up a prominent place amongst its fellow sub-committees. The purpose of the MSF is to support the IASL in its task to create awareness about the importance of Insurance. The MSF does this by organizing various events to propagate and promote Insurance. The sub-committee is made up of the Heads of Marketing and Sales from the Insurance companies that are part of the IASL.”
On the topic of the efforts of the MSF in organizing the National Insurance Day activities as well as the Insurance Awareness Month campaign, Mr. Weerawardena explained that as the sub-committee dedicated to creating awareness about the value of Insurance, the MSF played a leading role in the organization of the National Insurance Day activations and the Insurance Awareness Month campaign. The activation events were planned with the aim of ensuring that as many people as possible in every corner of Sri Lanka were educated about the vitality and necessity of Insurance. “As the Chairman of the MSF, I take great pride in the tireless efforts of my team. I am also grateful to the IASL and the IRCSL for all the support and guidance we received.”
“A number of Insurance companies took on the responsibility of hosting activation events in Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Jaffna, Rathnapura, Anuradhapura and Matara. All other Insurance companies also pitched in with their support and presence to ensure that the activation events were successful. It was a proud moment for us to see the entire Insurance community of Sri Lanka come together to take the message of our trade to every corner of the island”, said the Chairman of the MSF, describing the activations that took place in the seven allocated locations on the 1st of September.
When asked how the Insurance companies of Sri Lanka contributed to the campaign, Mr. Weerawardena stated, “Even though leadership was taken on by certain companies in selecting the venues, program etc., the entire Industry rallied around them as one to espouse the importance of Insurance to the entire population of Sri Lanka, and as a result of this effort all the regional activations have been a tremendous success.”
Questioned about the plans for future National Insurance Days and the Insurance Awareness Month campaigns, the Chairman of the MSF responded saying, “The declaration of the National Insurance Day was the first step in a 3-year plan to increase the reach of Insurance awareness throughout the country. This year we conducted activation events in seven major locations in the country, six of which were well outside Colombo. Next year we hope to be able to conduct events all over the island.”
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