Training and Education

The poor do not understand insurance, in fact many tend to think it is a product for the wealthy urban elite rather than the rural poor. It’s essential to train the sales force and the clients themselves in how the products work.

Historically insurance has often been misunderstood and mistrusted by the poor.

Many have sought informal risk management solutions within the local community, shunning commercial enterprises that have not provided suitable products for their needs and have been slow to pay valid claims. It is essential to educate the sales force on the value of insurance and the poor on how to make a claim. 

When people are informed to make good choices about protecting themselves and their families against the unexpected shocks that can erode financial stability, they are more likely to secure a way out of poverty. 

Client Education

Our teams get asked daily, “I paid my premium, nothing bad happened, can I have my money back?” Client education is all about helping the target clients understand how microinsurance works and how to make a claim. Client education is also designed to promote understanding of the options for managing risk. The objective is to explain the fundamental concepts underlying microinsurance and the terms that define it so that the poor can determine what is the most suitable option in their particular case.

Historically, clients have received very little education on microinsurance, and where it has happened, it has often been a small part of more general financial education, and there has been no follow-up. There have been few attempts to introduce specialised professional education on an ongoing basis. MicroEnsure has developed comic books in our clients' local languages to provide an understanding of microinsurance in an informative and easily understandable format.

These materials are the result of in-depth research into client understanding and attitudes concerning insurance followed by pilot testing to gather feedback and adapt the initial comics to provide an education tool sympathetic to local cultural norms. In addition to a comic book on the basics of microinsurance, we have initiated product-specific follow-up comics that deliberately provide multiple impacts to build up and maintain client understanding.

Once the training and education programme is established and adapted, the aim is to establish a financial literacy index as a baseline to measure the impact of education on the clients we serve. 

‘Panatag Ka Ba?’ The Philippine Comic Book Initiative

Comic books have proved a great success in communicating key product information to clients in the Philippines.

Traditional outlets such as television, billboard, radio and newspaper advertising often cannot provide the capacity needed to convey the quantity of information required for successful client education.

Comic books are a cost-effective solution that provide effective client education in an accessible and entertaining way. In many areas comic books are shared between family members and friends, increasing their potential outreach. Written in local dialects, they allow a high degree of readership, knowledge retention and recall.

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