Prudential offers plan for those retrenched

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Prudential offers plan for those retrenched
By Lorna Tan, Finance Correspondent

BRITISH insurer Prudential Assurance is offering policyholders the option of maintaining some insurance cover - at a lower premium - if they lose their job.
In response to the current economic gloom and job insecurity woes, Prudential recently introduced a Cover Assured scheme which offers a term life and critical illness cover to its existing customers.

This was mentioned at a recent press briefing to announce its performance for last year, which saw the insurer retain its No.1 ranking in new business life insurance sales for the fourth year.

The Covered Assured scheme is meant to protect policyholders who are unable to continue with their usual premiums. By paying a smaller premium, the policyholder can put his original policy on hold and still enjoy some life protection cover under the new scheme.

'At times like this, we want to make sure that our customers still have insurance protection in the event that they go through a temporary financial crisis like losing their jobs,' said Prudential Singapore chief executive Philip Seah.

He added that the worst thing that can happen in a crisis like this is not having protection. Once the affected policyholder finds a job and is able to continue paying the premiums of his original policy, he can drop the scheme and continue with his original plan.

For a sum assured of $100,000, the annual premium for a male, non-smoker, aged 35, is $66 for death cover, $11 for total and permanent disability and $68 for a critical illness cover.

Having the right products for customers is one of Prudential's strategies to counter the slowing economy.

Despite facing a challenging second half last year, Prudential maintained its market leader position in the life insurance market with new business premiums of $284.6 million. Its market share is about 16 per cent.

In the same period, its regular premium business grew a record 13 per cent. Prudential declined to give actual figures. It was ranked No.1 for new business sales for private hospitalisation Shield plans with more than 135,000 policies as at end last year.

Looking ahead, Mr Seah is aiming to outdo last year's growth by increasing its agency force. It now boasts the largest agency size of 3,500 agents and it wants to grow this to 4,500 by the end of this year.

Prudential products are also available via its banking partners - namely Standard Chartered and Maybank - and SingPost.