National Insurance Corporation (NIC) has introduced the lowest life
premium cover that caters for low and middle income earners in a quest to woo
the 'wananchi' to purchase life insurance cover.
The premium dubbed 'Farijika' (be relieved), which went into operation
in January, has attracted a number of clients and one is required to contribute
a minimum 4,500/- per month and can be paid through mobile phone the same way
people make transactions through M-Pesa.
The NIC Director of Marketing and Customer Services, Mr Henry Machoke,
says the idea was to change people's mentality so they realize the importance
of self insurance coverage.
"This is affordable even for low income earners... and is the
first in the history of life insurance," Mr Machoke said over the weekend.
He added that Farijika runs in collaboration with Zantel's Ezy-Pesa service.
A study carried out by NIC discovered that accidents were on the high
side but on the other hand people are not covered by any insurance despite
being exposed to increasing risks. This prompted NIC to decide to initiate the
affordable insurance plan.
Data from Traffic Police indicates that in 2010 road traffic accidents
claimed the lives of 3,582 people while more than 20,000 got injured with
pedestrians and cyclists being at greater risk.
NIC, due to such reason, decided to bring an insurance coverage that
would encompass every person, especially those who travel frequently and
everyone whose job is risky, mainly the youth who account for 65 per cent of
the population -- estimated at 45 million.
Simplifying and easing a daunting task of paying 4,500/- monthly cover
by visiting banks or insurance officers, NIC teamed up with Zantel's Ezy-Pesa
to enable customers to transfer money using mobile phones.
"Farijika is one of the easiest insurance cover policies and is in
very clear terms. In fact, every Zantel client can register by simply going to
Ezy-Pesa menu rather than looking for NIC offices or agents to get registered.
"Already, we have good number of clients who have taken the cover
using Ezy-Pesa service since it was launched in January this year. We expect more
to join," said Machoke.Insurance statistics show that out of 45 million
citizens there are fewer than three million registered for life insurance and
mostly from the informal sector.
AMEND, an international Non-Governmental Organization operating in the
country, dealing with advocacy for road safety for children, road calamities
told the 'Sunday News' recently that in recent years accidents have been in the
increase than the growth of the country's population.
The NGO said that recent survey also gathered from the National Bureau
of Statistics (NBS) reveal further that at least 3.3 per cent of the population
is involved in the road accident comparing to the growth of the populations
which increases to an average of 2.9 per cent annually.
Source: The Daily News,dailynews.co.tz , reported by Abduel Elinaza
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