Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) said that its Z Zurich Foundation will support the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) microinsurance innovation facility with a contribution of CHF3m to facilitate the development of approaches to provide insurance coverage to low-income people in a cost effective way.
The company said that the major focus areas of microinsurance services is on streamlining and/or eliminating scale and efficiency challenges, with regard to the enrollment and premium collection from persons in remote areas and /or who may not have bank accounts; the management of large numbers of small policies and small claims; and the integration of multiple actors who work together to provide the insurance service.
The facility will provide innovation grants to organizations involved in microinsurance. The grant applications will be reviewed using the facility’s existing selection process and the best 5 to 7 projects selected will be monitored over a 3 to 4-year period.
Martin Senn, CEO and chairman of Z Zurich Foundation, said: “We believe it’s critical to our long-term business success to play our part in delivering sustainable, long-lasting solutions to important and relevant economic, social and environmental challenges. In these difficult times of market recovery, it is important to underpin our commitment to corporate responsibility and actively support the development of better insurance services for the less fortunate.”