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Guardian Life: Insurance for All!
**As a part of Guardian Life's vision of "Insurance for All", Guardian-BRAC Bima (GBB) is playing a significant role in keeping millions of Bangladeshis above the poverty line and help them to flourish even in case of loss of a crucial family member.**
"You will not turn bankrupt because of buying insurance but you will cause your loved ones to turn bankrupt if you don'C Jack Ma. Unarguably, Microfinance has been the most effective tool in the fight against poverty. Over the years, it has lifted millions of rural Bangladeshis out of poverty. However, certain aspects of the MFI sector in Bangladesh needs to be reinforced to provide better protection against poverty trap for the impoverished and that is where a handshake between Micro insurance & Microfinance becomes crucial. Micro insurance is designed to help more people buy insurance coverage who were previously unable to afford it It provides poor and low-income households with the means to protect themselves against the effects of risk.
Despite substantial growth in the insurance sector over the past decade, penetration still stands at a mere 3% - 4% in Bangladesh; necessitating a massive need for overhauling. In such a situation, the progressive Insurance Companies have a pivotal role to play in developing this industry along with regulators and other stakeholders. Hence, the visionary entrepreneurs of BRAC, Square Group & Apex Group in such a situation Joined hands and decided to do something for sector reformation; thus Guardian Life Insurance Limited (GLIL) was bom and started the Journey back in 2014. Leading the industry with paradigm shift is what GLIL is known for. Being the fastest growing life insurance company of Bangladesh, "Best group insurer”and a facilitator of “financial inclusion" & "Insurance for all", GLIL has undertaken a micro insurance initiative that is ushering a new era in the sector. The initiative has been acknowledged by multiple local & international authorities which included the Asian Banking and finance. They bestowed GLIL with the prestigious InsuranceAsia Award in 2017 for this initiative. GLIL aspires to work diligently towards financial inclusion and touch the lives ofthe underprivileged population with the spark of life insurance. Accordingly, after trying out various innovative models of micro insurance, GLIL made a breakthrough with Guardian-BRAC Bima (GBB), under which the 10 million recipients of BRAC Microfinance came under the scope of GLIL's credit shield micro-insurance program (including spouse). BRAC is the largest NGO in the world, with 83% of its clients (microfinance) being women. After going through some pilot phases, Guardian-BRAC Bima (GBB) was fully launched in 2017.
With the synergy of innovation, resources and BRAC's immense infrastructure, GUL has been able to reach out and transform millions of impoverished lives across Bangladesh through micro insurance. Promoting this scheme through a trusted intermediary had instant benefits; the initial take up rate skyrocketed to 61% in 2016 and 76% in 2017 through voluntary participation. Partnership with BRAC gave the scheme significant reach as it increased from a mere 650 branches at the end ofthe pilot scheme in 2016 to a staggering 100% coverage (Currently 2530 branches) across the whole BRAC network within 10 weeks.
Partnership with BRAC has enabled GLIL to spread across the country, reaching over 5.7 million borrowers, empowering them through micro insurance, which spans over 10 million lives. Under Guardian-BRAC Bima (GBB) project, an insurance company for the first time in the country has fully utilized the aggregator's (BRAC) infrastructure (2530 branches) to provide instant and quality service.
The GBB project has the combining factors to benefit all the stakeholders involved. It insulates BRAC from having to write off loans in the event of death ofthe borrower. At the same time, GBB shields the borrower's family from falling into a debt trap after the sudden loss of a family member. Finally, GLIL reaps the benefits of serving a massive client base and in the process earning revenue.
The beneficiaries of a policyholder under the GBB program are entitled to on-the-spot ash benefit (funeral benefit) upon claiming to help them deal with the initial trauma. GLIL takes about five business days for processing and settlement which is the best in the industry. Currently, the claim payout ratio of GUL is 97%, which is comparable to international standards. After submitting a claim, the insuree an view the claim status anytime from GUL’s web portal.
GLIL ensures a smooth claim process handled by a very efficient and communicative team of claim officers; documents an quickly and easily be submitted via GBB Web Portal. This entire venture has resulted in 40,843 claims being settled with 1.69 billion BDT (19.8 million USD) paid out till date. However, the numbers alone cannot justify the magnitude of GULs’achievements. Micro insurance is an important safety net against various risks for the poorest and most vulnerable people of Bangladesh. Guardian-BRAC Bima (GBB) is playing a significant role in keeping millions of Bangladeshis above the poverty line and helping them to flourish despite the loss of a crucial family member.