I Have to Correct My Mistake: Prudentialife Plans Inc. is Different from Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. Inc.
I’m very sorry I may have misled some of you when I answered some of your questions/comments in relation to “Prudential.”
My mistake was I thought the Prudentialife Plans Inc. which was suspended recently by SEC is the same Prudential which has been partnering with Danvil Plans since 2007.
Thanks so much to Rolly who made the correction. Based on Rolly’s info and on my quick online research, these are some info that would clear things up:
Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. is the company which bought the life insurance portfolio of Berkley/Danvil in 2007. This is also the issuer of life insurance plans and endowment plans being sold by Danvil Plans.
Philippine Prudential is a life insurance company supervised by the Insurance Commission. It is not a pre-need company.
web site: http://www.philprudentiallife.com/pplic/
On the other hand, Prudentialife Plans Inc. is a pre-need company supervised by the SEC. This is the company whose license to sell was suspended by the SEC last April 2009.
web site: http://www.prudentialife.com/
The good news then to many of you whose plans were issued by Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. ( sold through Danvil Plans) is that your plans are not affected by the trust fund problems prevalent in the pre-need industry… because your plans are insurance plans issued by an insurance company, which has been operating since 1963, according to its web site.
Prudentialife Plans — License to Sell Pre-need Plans Suspended
SEC Chairperson Fe Barin reported that SEC suspended the license of Prudentialife to sell new pre-need plans because its capital buildup plan did not pass the requirements of the SEC.
Prudentialife President Jose Alberto Alba has responded to the SEC’s suspension of its license to sell new pre-need plans by saying that the firm will continue to operate as a servicing firm for its preneed plans.
He said the firm will continue to pay benefits to planholders.
He also said Prudentialife Market Resource Corp. will continue to sell health plans, mutual funds and other insurance products and will continue to pursue new opportunities beyond the preneed industry.
I’m just bothered by the last statement in the article, saying that only 2 preneed firms submitted their capital build-up plans before the deadline of April 15 — Prudentialife and Cocoplans. Cocoplans’ proposal was approved while Prudentialife’s plan was not.
What about the other preneed firms? What are their capital build-up plans?
In a related article, SEC Chairperson Fe Barin was quoted as saying that planholders affected by the suspension of Prudentialife’s license to sell pre-need plans should go to the SEC for advice.
Source/Reference: Hannah L. Torregoza, author
SEC revokes license to sell of Prudential Life Plans, firm airs side
Manila Bulletin mb.com.ph
How to File a Complaint Against Any Pre-Need Plan Company in the Philippines
Are you planning to file a complaint against a pre-need plan company in the Philippines?
On the SEC website, there are instructions on how to file a complaint. There is also a complaint form which can be downloaded.
But you can use your own format as long as you include all the necessary details.
Here is a simplified version of the SEC procedures:
1. You can file your complaint against any pre-need company in the Philippines at the SEC office along EDSA in the Greenhills area. Submit your complaint to the Central Receiving and Record Division (CRRD).
2. Who can file a complaint?
The planholder, or the legal representative, or the beneficiaries (if the planholder is deceased)
3. Where is the complaint filed?
Submit your complaint to the Central Receiving and Record Division (CRRD) of the SEC.
4. Contents of the complaint
The complaint should be written. You can use the SEC complaint format which can be downloaded from the SEC website.
- name, address and contact number of the complainant
- name of the pre-need company, main address of the company, name of the person contacted (example: name of the salesperson)
- brief statement of facts: type of plan, effectivity, number of installments paid, total payments paid, significant dates, and other facts that will support your complaint
Akala Ko Naghihirap ang Pre-Need Industry
I thought the pre-need industry is struggling. Hindi naman yata masyado. Nagulat ako noong nakita ko sa website ng PhilHealth na nag-donate ang PFPPCI (the Philippine pre-need association) ng 100,800 pesos sa PhilHealth to help 168 low-income families from various places in the country get PhilHealth coverage. Noong February 4, 2009 ito.
Pero, come to think of it, baka indication rin ng paghihirap nila yong amount ng check. Bakit 100,800 pesos lang?
Anyway, kahit naman yata tayo, kahit naghihirap tayo, nagbibigay pa rin tayo kahit konti kung may nanghihinging nangangailangan talaga?
20 pre-need firms ang na-mention doon, including Danvil Plans.
PhilHealth receives P100.8K from the
Federation of Pre-Need Plan Companies – February 4, 2009
To Danvil, From a Hurting OFW in Japan
By Lemmor Adsiv, an OFW in Japan
March 7, 2009
It is of great help for me it you could answer me on this inquiry. I finished paying my Danvil plan and it will mature in 2019. Actually I paid it in advance so as not to miss payments. But I’m having many sleepless nights because of many doubts about how pre-need companies are doing in the market today. I am having second thoughts about waiting for my plan to mature. Any idea on this? How much money would I get in return if I apply for early reimbursement of my payments? Much as I would like to inquire personally at the Danvil office regarding the matter, I’m here in Japan working hard to make both ends meet for my family. It was hard earned money that I used to pay for my plan. That’s why I am really bothered and annoyed by different news I heard about the pre-need business.
Dalawa ang aking plans sa Danvil. Sad to say na noong kinuha ko yon sa SM Southmall, di ko naintindihan masyado ang paliwanag. Kadarating ko lang noon, galing ako sa work ko abroad and I’m only on my vacation. Actually, I can say na forced and pressured lang din ako ng Danvil employee. Para bang para makauwi na lang ako kumuha na lang ako, then bahala na. Parang ganoon ang nangyari sa akin.
Pre-need Firms: Time for Capital Build-up
Ms. Doris Dumlao has an article on inquirer.net on pre-need firms, published on February 28 at 2:58 a.m.
She said SEC Chairwoman Fe Barin gave some more time to the 24 pre-need firms licensed for 2009 to build up their capital. She gave a deadline of up to April 15. Danvil Plans is one of the 24 pre-need firms listed in the article.
Here’s the link to Ms. Doris Dumlao’s article: Pre-need firms to get relief package.
Pre-Need Philippines: Kabado Na Naman?
Pagkatapos na ma-assure tayo na licensed pre-need dealer for 2009 ang Danvil Plans at isa siya group of pre-need firms na willing to increase their capital, ito naman ngayon…
Nakakakaba yong sinabi ni Jose Miguel M. Vazquez, Federation of Pre-need Companies of the Philippines president, noong February 20 tungkol sa business na pre-need.
Nag-research uli ako ng news ngayong umaga about pre-need sa Internet noong nakita ko sa ABS-CBN news kagabi yong pagsasalita ni Vazquez habang ini-interview siya.
Ini-extend kasi ng SEC mula February 15 hanggang April 15 yong deadline ng mga pre-need companies para dagdagan ang capital nila.
Ang sabi ni Vazquez ay kailangan pa nila ng mas mahabang time para isipin kung magpapatuloy pa sila na mag-business. Iisipin daw nila kung profitable pa raw ba ang business na pre-need. Ano ba yon?
Vazquez’s exact words:
“Is it enough time? Probably not, since each company is assessing whether to continue, should continue and can continue. It is not just a question of capital. Each company is reviewing whether there is still a future [in this business] and this cannot be determined in such a short time.”
According sa news na ito of Business World online, the group said some pre-need companies were considering stopping operations and were just trying to pay plan holders due to their huge trust fund deficits.
In the same TV news, nagsalita rin si Philip Piccio, the head of the PEP Coalition. Ina-accuse niya yong mga pre-need companies na sinasadya raw nilang ipakita na nalulugi na sila kahit hindi para hindi nila ibigay yong full values ng pre-need plans.
Source:
BusinessWorld February 21, 2009
Danvil Is Still Berkley on Pre-need Federation Website
Just like Danvil Plans, the Philippine Federation of Pre-Need Plan Companies Inc. (PFPPCI) doesn’t also update its website. The latest post on the site was posted two years ago. Is this one of the signals of the difficult conditions of the pre-need industry? They don’t have people to update their web sites, or they don’t have something to say?
Anyway, according to what’s on the website, as of 2007, there are 48 members. But when one looks at the list of members, there are only 29. These are:
1 Ayala Plans Inc.
2 Berkley International Inc.
representative: Alan Michael Rafe, president
alternate: Daniel Villanueva evp, CFO
3 CocoPlans Inc.
4 CAP Pension
5 CAP Assurance
6 Destiny Financials
7 East Asia Plans
8 Eduplan Inc.
9 Eternal Plans
10 Excel Memorial Life Plan
11 First Union Plan
12 Himlayang Pilipino Plans
13 Ideal Pension Plans
14 Loyola Plans
15 Mercantile Care Plans
16 Manulife Financial
17 Paz Memorial
18 Permanent Plans
19 Philam Plans
20 PETPlans
21 Primanila Plans
22 Provident Plans
23 Prudentialife Plans
24 Redeemer Life Plan
25 St. Peter Life Plan
26 Sun Life Financial
27 TPG Corp.
28 Transnational Plans
29 Trusteeship Plans
The following firms are not listed, but they are included on the home page’s flashing ads:
30 AMA
31 Classic Plans
32 Gillamac
33 Lifetime
34 Millennium
35 Platinum Plans
36 Pryce
It’s interesting to note that the three failed Legacy pre-need firms are not on the list.
Same with Pacific Plans. It’s not in the list. However, according to Chino S. Leyco’s article in the January 28, 2009 issue of “Manila Times,” Noel Oñate, the businessman who acquired Pacific Plans from the Yuchengcos, was elected to the board of the PFPPCI on January 27. Oñate’s company Abundance Providers and Investments Corp. bought Pacific Plans in December 2008 for 250 million pesos.
The one we see speaking on television speaking for the pre-need industry these past weeks, Juan Miguel Madrigal Vazquez, has been president of the PFPPCI since 2005, possibly earlier. I can’t find info on when he was elected president. His educational and professional background is on the site. He’s the president and CEO of Permanent Plans.
Daniel Villanueva: Founder and President, Danvil Holdings
After Berkley International became Danvil Plans in March 2007, I started researching on the Internet who this Mr. Daniel Villanueva is. Who is this man who single-handedly took on the acquisition of Berkley for 1.25 billion pesos? Does this man have the ability to lead Danvil so that by 2010, I could get my money and so that other pre-need planholders could also get theirs in the years to come?
Until now, there are only a few notes on the Internet about Mr. Villanueva that I’ve read.
One is an article by Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson on Inquirer.net on April 11, 2007. This article said that Mr. Daniel Villanueva held top positions in the life insurance industry for many years, including:
president of John Hancock Life Insurance Corp.
project consultant Arthur Andersen Business Consulting
president of PT-NIAGA-CIGNA Life Insurance in Indonesia
senior vice president for operation of Lincoln Philippine Life Insurance Co.
executive vice president and chief finance officer of Berkley International Plans
Sanchez-Lacson said that Mr. Villanueva helped run Berkley and its marketing unit Family First for 7 years, administering 60,000 active plans, trust fund assets of 3.8 billion pesos and planholder liabilities of 3.2 billion pesos. She also noted that much of the growth of Danvil is credited to Mr. Villanueva.
She also said that Danvil Holdings was incorporated in November 1996 as a real estate corporation, and later also as a financial service corporation.
The second article is on the web site of prudentialife. It says that Mr. Villanueva received an award from Nenita Agustin, senior vice president of Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co., for being one of the top producers in 2007.
Now this one leaves a question in my mind. Why would Mr. Villanueva receive an award from Prudential as a producer? Was Mr. Villanueva a general agent of Prudential? Did Danvil incorporate a Prudential life plan into Danvil’s products in 2007? I bought my Danvil plan in 2000 and I didn’t buy any other Danvil plan after, so I didn’t know that Danvil sold Prudential Life plans.
Perhaps this explains a complaint by someone named Huggs on pc-tipid.com. He says that his friend bought a Prudential Life plan from Danvil, but they could not trace the OR of his first payment when they called up Prudential Life.
From my research on Danvil and Mr. Daniel Villanueva on the Internet, all the bad things associated to Danvil arise from its aggressive marketing and sales tactics in the malls. Many of those commenting are calling Danvil a scam because of these tactics, especially customers forced or pressured by sales agents into swiping their credit cards. They also interpret the changing of the name from Family First to Danvil as one scam tactic.
With regards to any bad thing said about Mr. Villanueva, I found none.
This is in contrast to the case of Legacy’s Celso de los Angeles Jr. when I researched about him after planholders were informed that Danvil’s pre-need plans were being bought by Legacy. Try researching Mr. De Los Angeles and you’d be surprised at various kinds of unsavory things said about him both in his personal life and professional life, even before Legacy collapsed. It was really providential that the 2008 Legacy deal did not push through. I applaud Danvil for this. In my very first email to Danvil after the Legacy deal announcement, I mentioned those things said about Mr. De Los Angeles.
About claims, I haven’t read about or heard of any Danvil planholder whose plan have matured in 2008 complaining on the Internet that Danvil failed to pay his/her claims. What about you? Have you heard or read about someone not receiving his/her 2008 maturity proceeds from Danvil?
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