Pre-need Companies in the Philippines Now under Insurance Commission
Pre-need companies in the Philippines are now under the supervision of the Insurance Commission.
The pre-need law was passed in December 2009 and the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) were signed in March 2010.
Visit the website of the Insurance Commission at insurance.gov.ph, and you will see the pre-need code and the IRR already published on the site.
You will also see the list of the 23 pre-need firms under Directory of the IC home page. However, the list on the IC was still the list previously prepared by the SEC.
The list includes the 23 pre-need firms that were licensed to sell pre-need plans as of December 2009:
- Abundance Providers and Entrepreneurs Corporation (APEC) (formerly Pacific Plans)
- AMA Plans
- Ayala Plans
- Caritas Financial Plans
- CityPlans
- Cocoplans
- Danvil Plans (formerly Berkley International Plans)
- Destiny Financial Plans
- Eternal Plans
- First Country Plans
- First Union Plans
- Grayline Plans
- Himlayang Pilipino Plans
- Loyola Plans Consolidated
- Manulife Financial Plans
- Mercantile Careplans
- Paz Memorial Services
- Philplans First (formerly Philam Plans)
- Provident International Plans
- St. Peter Life Plan
- Sun Life Financial Plans
- Transnational Plans
- Trusteeship Plans
The only two changes from the May 2009 list are:
- the addition of APEC to the list
- change of name of Philam Plans to Philplans
For those who have complaints, inquiries or claims, you can address them to:
Public Assistance & Information Division
523-8461 to 70 local 102, 103, 105
pubassist@insurance.gov.ph
Two Planholders of Danvil Plans Who Have Already Collected Their Maturity Benefits
These are comments from two planholders of Danvil Plans who have already filed their claims, got their checks and have encashed them.
From planholder Hill:
February 16
Planholder din ako ng Danvil Plans and in fact magma-mature na ang plan ko this March 2009. One last payment na lang sa March 1 ang kulang.
February 21
Originally, 5 years to pay and 10 years after ang maturity yung plan ko pero I had it changed to 10 years to pay. Kaya, March 1, 2009 ang last payment at sa March 25, 2009 naman yung maturity date nung plan ko. Kaya nga inaayos ko na ang mga requirements.
So Sad About Permaplans or Permanent Plans
I’m not a Permaplans planholder, but I’m so sad about what’s happening with Permaplans or Permanent Plans, especially with the pre-need firm’s interaction with the SEC.
Again, it’s the planholders who are suffering.
Back in April, Permaplans’ president Juan Miguel Vazquez said his firm isn’t considering going to court for rehabilitation because court rehab takes time and delays payments to planholders.
But now the firm has filed for rehab, which according to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez is not the best option for planholders. He mentioned this while commenting on the Legacy case.
Updates on Danvil Plans and Other Pre-need Firms from March to May 2009
March 13-19
At the Senate hearing on pre-need firms, former Legacy executive Carolina Hinola accused SEC Commissioner Jesus Enrique Martinez of covering up Legacy’s financial problems after accepting gifts from Legacy, including a 5-million-peso house and lot and a 1.5-million Ford Expedition from Legacy head Celso de Los Angeles.
Insiders also claimed that Martinez tried to broker the sale of Danvil Plans to the Legacy Group. The sale did not push through after Danvil Plans backed out of the deal allegedly upon the advice of other top pre-need executives.
(Martinez died on May 6 due to colon cancer complications.)
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
Pre-Need News — Philippines: Key Points
Here are some pre-need news during the month of February 2009 that could interest Danvil planholders:
1. Four more pre-need companies are nearing bankruptcy, according to Philip Piccio, president of the Parents-Enabling Parents Coalition (PEP), a group of parents fighting for their open-ended plans with Pacific Plans. Piccio named Pryce Plans as one of the four, but didn’t name the three other pre-need firms in trouble.
2. SEC chairwoman Fe Barin told congressmen that SEC issued 2009 licenses to only 24 of more than 50 pre-need companies.
3. The proposed transfer of pre-need regulation from the SEC to the Insurance Commission has been approved by members of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries. The transfer is included in a pre-need draft by Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara.
4. Jose Miguel M. Vasquez, president of the Philippine Federation of Pre-Need Plan Companies (PFPPCI) and Permanent Plans, denied they invested in companies abroad which later became bankrupt because Philippine law prohibits them.
5. Cocoplans President Caesar T. Michelena said his firm has informed planholders that their trust fund, worth over P1.5 billion, can pay claims worth P500 million over five years. It is interesting to note that Cocoplans was the only pre-need firm that released trust fund figures during this particular pre-need meeting of more than 10 members.
6. ABS-CBN News obtained documents showing that preneed firms have a deficit of almost 47 billion pesos in trust funds. It says that 11 pre-need firms have been losing since June 2008 because of the fall in the rates of return from 12 % to only 6% for their investments in government securities, in blue-chip stocks and other financial instruments. Another reason is the drastic drop in sales of pre-need plans.
7. PFPPCI President Vasquez said pre-need companies can increase their capital over the next three years under relaxed SEC rules or stop selling new pre-need plans and undergo restructuring.
8. Parents Enabling Parents (PEP) Coalition, an organization of owners of Pacific Plans open-ended plans, said that none of the pre-need firms under rehabilitation such CAP and Pacific Plans has been punished for mismanagement.
9. PFPPCI President Vasquez will ask the SEC and the Central Bank to allow the pre-need industry to invest up to 10% of their total investments in dollar-denominated securities. Currently, the pre-need industry is allowed to invest only in peso-denominated securities.
10. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, through its secretary general Ernesto Herrera, has called on legislators to pass without further delay the Preneed Industry Code to protect pre-need planholders.
11. A list of 19 pre-need firms willing to increase their capital in 2009 to cope with difficulties in the financial markets is included in Salve Duplito’s article on Inquirer.net Money Smarts. One of them is Danvil Plans.
It’s interesting to note that there are 6 licensed pre-need firms for 2009 that are not in this list. They are:
AMA Plans
Caritas Financial
CityPlans
Destiny Financial
First Country
In the case of AMA Plans, it’s new in the 2009 pre-need dealer’s list, so it’s safe to assume its capital is adequate. It is also interesting to note that Pacific Plans and Ideal Pension Plans are not licensed to sell in 2009, but they are included in this list of pre-need firms willing to increase their capital.
The article said that Philam Plans didn’t sign the 19-firm agreement because its trust fund is more than adequate to pay its planholders.
Advice From Journalists to Planholders:
1. Know your options.
2. Avoid panic. Negative news will worsen the pre-need firm’s operations.
3. Do your own research. Ask SEC about your firm.
Danvil Plans, Other Pre-Need Firms: Updates
Just like you, I got so bothered when I read on Inquirer.net that 4 pre-need firms are about to collapse. Philip Piccio, president of PEP Coalition, named one of the four as Pryce and then challenged the SEC to name the 3 other firms. One top SEC executive denied there are 3 other failing firms, but the other one confirmed it.
And this after the collapse of 3 Legacy pre-need firms, and long before them, the collapse of CAP and Pacific Plans. Although Pacific seems to be okay now, since Noel Oñate’s Abundance Providers Investments Corp., the new owner of Pacific, promised to buy back Pacific plans at 15% yearly interest. Piccio and his group, however, plan to pursue their case against the original owner of Pacific.
These are some info that I gathered as of today, February 14:
1. On SEC website, Danvil Plans is one of the 24 pre-need corporations with 2009 dealer’s license. Compared to the list of September 2008, the pre-need firms removed were:
Ideal Pension
Legacy
Pacific Plans
There is one new firm on the list: AMA Plans.
On another page there are three other firms with 2009 dealer’s license:
IMG Insurance Brokers
Prudentialife Market Resources, both linked to Prudentialife and
Jardine Lloyd Thomson Insurance Brokers, linked to Philam Plans
2. Philip Piccio, president of the Parents-Enabling Parents Coalition (PEP) who is campaigning for
Pacific Plans open-ended educational planholders, was generous enough to reply to my text about Danvil. He texted back that Danvil Plans is not one of the 4 pre-need firms about to collapse.
3. Jack of Danvil Plans in Makati said that Danvil is very stable. Jack was the one who answered me on the phone when I called the Danvil office in Makati on February 13. I asked him if he knows about the 4 pre-need firms being mentioned about to collapse, and he said that he doesn’t know. He said that what he knows is that Danvil is stable and that it has been paying claims as of date. I asked him why Danvil is not updating its web site, and he said that he will relay my concern to management.
4. According to a list provided by Salve Duplito on her article on Inquirer.net Money Smarts, Danvil Plans is one of the 19 pre-need firms who have signed a document expressing their willingness to increase their capital in 2009 to cope with anticipated difficulties due to low investment rates in the financial markets. The bigger pre-need firms are on the list.
5. My conclusion is that the 4 pre-need firms being reported about to collapse includes Ideal Pension because I read one planholder complaining that Ideal Plan has not given him the proceeds of his plan which has matured in 2008. The other one would be Pryce Plans, which most everybody knows by now has already collapsed way back in 2007. But in fairness to Pryce, it’s doing its best to give something to its planholders. My friend who is a Pryce planholder is getting some benefits through Pryce’s other companies, such as hotel stays, etc. She has also received some amounts of money for tuition.
As for the other two pre-need firms, I’m still checking. I’ll update this article again today after I get home from church. Happy Valentine’s Day to all Danvil planholders.
Pre-Need Corporations With 2009 Dealer’s License as of January 28, 2009
1 AMA Plans Inc. (pension)
2 Ayala Plans Inc. (education, pension)
3 Caritas Financial Plans Inc. (pension)
4 CityPlans Inc. (pension)
5 Cocoplans Inc. (education, life, pension)
6 Danvil Plans Inc. (formerly Berkley International Plans, educational, pension)
7 Destiny Financial Plans Inc. (pension)
8 Eternal Plans Inc. (education, life, pension)
9 First Country Plans Inc. (pension)
10 First Union Plans Inc. (pension)
11 Grayline Plans Inc. (pension)
12 Himlayang Pilipino Plans Inc. (education, life, pension)
13 Loyola Plans Consolidated (education, life, pension)
14 Manulife Financial Plans (educ pension)
15 Mercantile Careplans (educ life pension)
16 Paz Memorial Services (life)
17 Permanent Plans (life, pension)
18 Philam Plans (educational, life, pension)
19 Provident International Plans (life, pension)
20 Prudentialife Plans (educational, life, pension)
21 St. Peter Life Plan (life)
22 Sun Life Financial Plans (educational, pension)
23 Transnational Plans (educational, pension)
24 Trusteeship Plans (educational, life, pension)
Additional List of Pre-Need Firms With 2009 Dealer’s License as of January 28, 2009
IMG Insurance Brokers Corp.
Prudentialife Plans Inc.
Jardine Lloyd Thomson Insurance Brokers Inc.
Philam Plans Inc.
Prudentialife Market Resources Corp.
Prudentialife Plans Inc.
Removed from the Licensed Dealer List of January 2009
Ideal Pension Plans
Legacy Consolidated Plans
Pacific Plans
Listed in the February 2007 list, but no longer licensed since 2008
Classic Plans
Eduplan Phils
Millennium Plans
Primanila Plans
PrimePlan
sources:
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