Training and education
Quite simply, the aim of training and client education is to
enable clients to be better informed about financial and insurance
decision making so that they can plan for, and realise their
goals.
MicroEnsure views education as an enabler in the market that
will both encourage demand for insurance from the poor and supply
of appropriate insurance products leading to scale and
sustainability.
Insurance has been misunderstood and mistrusted by the poor in
many instances. There are a number of reasons for this.
Traditionally, the poor have sought informal risk management
solutions within the community, shunning commercial enterprises
that have often not provided suitable products for their needs. The
claims process has been inadequate and lengthy; they have not been
properly informed about the insurance they have been offered.
When they make good choices about protecting themselves and
their families against the unexpected shocks that can erode
financial stability, the poor are more likely to secure a way out
of poverty. This is reflected in income protection for people in a
multitude work situations, access to healthcare that was previously
out of their reach, access to agricultural loans for smallholder
farmers to improve farm yields and diversify their crops, and even
protection of property against destruction by typhoons.
THE TRAINING AND EDUCATION METHODOLOGY
MicroEnsure has partnered with Microfinance Opportunities, a world leader in
financial education for the poor and co-founder of the Global
Financial Education Program, to develop a risk management and
insurance module specially tailored to the needs of our clients.
This operates at two levels - training of trainers (TOT) and client
education.