Business Model
There are three distinct roles that need to be performed in order for the poor to have access to effective micro insurance products.
MicroEnsure’s role is to provide an efficient back office within the following micro insurance framework:
Carrying the risk:
We believe that existing insurance and reinsurance companies are best placed carry the insurance risk; we can utilise existing underwriting capital. Our experience has helped us understand that in some instances our clients are better served through the use of our reinsurance cell captive.
Front office / sales:
It is important that the front office partners have a strong brand that the poor trust, points of sale that are accessible to the target market and an ability to collect premiums and pay claims. MicroEnsure partners with a range of microfinance organisations (MFI’s), global NGO’s, faith based networks and mobile phone companies in order to reach out to the poor in significant numbers.
Back office service:
Typically this involves designing the products, negotiating with the risk carrier, training the sales staff, educating the clients, collecting biographical data, data entry, management report and most importantly claims processing. MicroEnsure has become expert at providing these services to our partners.
MicroEnsure performs a range of roles which vary by country and according to the needs of our partners. We see ourselves as a “gap filler” that helps bring products to market and then assist in making them run smoothly. Our revenue model is one of receiving commission for each policy sold and as a result we typically position ourselves as an agent or broker in each country we operate.
From Grants to Commercial Funding
Richard Leftley shares his thoughts with Devex about when grant funding should be replaced by more commercial forms of funding.
M-Insurance Expands to Tanzania
MicroEnsure’s remarkable new M-Insurance product in Ghana reached more than 250,000 people within six months. Its success convinced MicroEnsure’s partners to expand the service into Tanzania.
The Presidents Column
I am delighted to report that at the end of September 2011 we were serving over a million people in Africa. This statistic is all the more remarkable when you consider that it is ten times the number we were covering just 12 months ago!
