AXA Philippines of the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co (Metrobank) led by Bankero Fabian Dee said more Filipinos are learning about insurance and having themselves protected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But despite the global health crisis, AXA Philippines President and CEO Rahul Hora said Filipinos remain highly underinsured and more deaths were recorded due to heart disease than due the COVID-19 during pandemic.
“If there has been a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that Filipinos are now looking to learn more about insurance, and getting protected,” Hora said.
Although the numbers are frightening as of the latest count, COVID-19 has not proven the leading cause of death in 2021.
As of October last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show the number one cause of mortality in the country from January to October last year remains unchanged.
Heart disease still topped the list with 110,332 cases or 18.3 percent of total, while COVID-19 accounted for only 75,285 deaths or 12.5 percent of total deaths in the country.
“This means that even prior to and beyond COVID-19, there have been and always will be prevalent and real threats to life and health. These can, and all too often do, have catastrophic consequences for the underinsured,” Hora added.
The upside to this development is that COVID-19 has made Filipinos more aware of the inevitability of getting sick.
Data from a study by NielsenIQ done during the pandemic show that Filipinos are now more willing to invest in insurance. In the new normal, 98 percent of Filipinos now consider insurance important, and 65 percent regard it as a need, not just a want.
Since smartphone penetration in the Philippines is very high at 74.1 percent of the total population, AXA decided to engage Filipinos in the digital space through Emma by AXA PH – an award-winning insurance app.
AXA Philippines is a joint venture between the Paris-based AXA Group as well as Ty-led GT Capital Holdings Inc. and Metrobank.
