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:

1. Abundance Providers and Entrepreneurs Corporation (APEC) (formerly Pacific Plans)
2. AMA Plans
3. Ayala Plans
4. Caritas Financial Plans
5. CityPlans
6. Cocoplans
7. Danvil Plans (formerly Berkley International Plans)
8. Destiny Financial Plans
9. Eternal Plans
10. First Country Plans
11. First Union Plans
12. Grayline Plans
13. Himlayang Pilipino Plans
14. Loyola Plans Consolidated
15. Manulife Financial Plans
16. Mercantile Careplans
17. Paz Memorial Services
18. Philplans First (formerly Philam Plans)
19. Provident International Plans
20. St. Peter Life Plan
21. Sun Life Financial Plans
22. Transnational Plans
23. 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

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.

March 5

Bale galing ako kaninang umaga sa Danvil Plans office sa SM Megamall para i-submit mga requirements in claiming maturity benefit. Bale wait lang ng 10 working days para sa clearing ng PDC check issued for March. And then 20 working days pa para sa check naman ng benefit ko.

April 7

I was at SM Megamall last Thursday, April 2 with former coworkers. And since I am already there, I decided to follow up if the check for the maturity benefits of my policy with Danvil Plans is already there. Lo and behold, to my surprise. Nandun na nga. Kaya that same day nakuha ko na check. And of course I deposited it to my bank account the following day. Di ko in-expect na nandun na check that time, kasi sabi sa akin nun, mga April 13 pa available. I’m thankful at mas napaaga. Praise God. At kanina nga sa bank I follow up kung credited na ba. Nagulat ako at hindi pa. Pero sabi naman ng bank clerk ay bukas cleared na ito at credited na sa account ko.

April 26

Gusto ko lang i-inform na na-clear na yung check na in-issue ng Danvil Plans. Happy and relieved talaga ako. Praise GOD. Yun lang. GOD BLESS.

From planholder Jun

May 5

I’m a Danvil planholder and I chanced upon your site since I’m also worried about my plan like many of the planholders. After reading the blogs, my hopes got renewed as Danvil seems to be not in danger of closing shop. I visited Danvil’s website to check on my plan and the status indicates that it is fully paid although the maturity date is on May 21, 2009. I’ll come back here to share with you and other planholders if i’m able to collect. Wish me luck…

May 6

I just filed my claim today at the North Edsa branch and I was told to wait for 20 working days for the release of the check, so that’s about a month from now or around June 6. Before I went there, I already heard about the bad news on Danvil. So while I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to collect, I cannot help myself from getting nervous. I don’t know how the news would affect the operations of Danvil, though when I was there, business seemed as usual and there were even few announcements of new planholders. So maybe its not as bad as depicted in the news.

June 5

As promised, I’m back to share with you if I’m able to collect my maturity benefit. Well, yes I was able to collect. I filed my claim on May 6 and got the check on June 2 and deposited it the following day. When I checked my account today, the check has already cleared. Just to share with you, the check was issued by the Cash/Trust Dept. of Land Bank Head Office and not by officers of Danvil Plans. My guess is Danvil approves the claims and sends them to Land Bank for issuance of the check. So I think for as long as the trust account in Land Bank has money, all claims that come will be paid. Now the question is how much money does the trust account contain? We don’t know that because Danvil Plans is not announcing it unlike Cocoplans. For now, we’ll just take SEC’s word that all the pre-need companies with licenses can meet their obligations. So I hope my report would somehow help the other planholders in deciding whether or not to continue with their policies.

Thank you so much, Hill and Jun, for sharing your experiences. I hope other Danvil planholders out there who have filed claims and who have encashed their checks take the time to share their experiences here to reassure other planholders of Danvil Plans.

Related Articles:

• Updates on Danvil Plans and Other Pre-need Firms from March toMay 2009

• So Sad About Permaplans or Permanent Plans
• Prudentialife Plans Inc. Is Different From Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. Inc.
• Danvil Plans, Other Pre-Need Firms: Updates
• Danvil Plans, Coco Plans,AMA Plans Deficient in Their Trust Funds

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.

An example of a pre-need court rehab is that of CAP. After getting suspended in 2004, CAP petitioned for rehab in 2005. The court granted it in 2006. Up to now,  CAP planholders have not received what is due them.

I also have a fully-paid CAP plan for my niece, but I’ve temporarily stopped pursuing it. I also sold one big CAP plan to a family friend, and I’ve made my big sorry and they’ve been nice. But I don’t know if the family thinks of CAP and then thinks of me. I’m glad now I sold only one.

Going back to PermaPlans:

According to Doris Dumlao of Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Permaplans petitioned a Makati court on May 21 to allow it to do the following:

• pay planholders who want to terminate their plans on a 60-40 basis: 60 percent in assets such as memorial lots and 40 percent in cash

• pay holders of maturing plans in five years: 10 percent on the 1st year, 45 percent on the 4th year and 45 percent on the 5th year.

Permaplans has about 11,000 planholders.

I’m saddened by the fact that Vazquez and the SEC are fighting.

Vazquez said the SEC froze Permaplans’ trust fund, so PermaPlans was forced to file for rehabilitation.

But the SEC said it didn’t freeze Permaplans’ trust fund.

According to the SEC, what it did was:

• to notify Permaplans that SEC opposed its plan of paying planholders who prefer to terminate their plans on a 60-40 basis

• to direct the trustee banks to secure approval first from SEC before approving withdrawals from Permaplans

There’s an article by Neal Cruz titled Gov’t regulatory agencies sleeping on the job . He didn’t name the pre-need firm, but obviously he’s referring to Permaplans.

I’m just bothered by the initial action of court rehab:

protect the pre-need firm from claims or give a reprieve to the pre-need firm from paying its obligations while something is being worked out.

Sources:

Permaplans seeks court approval for rehab
By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer

SEC tightens lid on Legacy
By Darwin G.Amojelar
The Manila Times

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.)

April 21

SEC has canceled the license of Prudentialife Plans Inc. to sell preneed plans because of its trust fund deficiency.

Prudentialife however said that its estimated trust fund of 12 billion pesos is enough to cover its obligations to about 400,000 planholders.

Prudentialife said it is still allowed to sell their other products like life insurance, health plans and mutual funds. Prudentialife President Jose Alberto Alba insisted that his firm will survive the crisis because of its 31-year history of strong performance, including survival of the CAP collapse and the 1997-1998 crisis.

April 22

Permanent Plans or Permaplans has decided to stop its operations  because of trust fund losses in 2008.  In response, SEC canceled Permaplans’ license. Permaplans said it will pay all its planholders (about 10,800) in the form of cash and other types of assets in the next 4 to 6 months.

April 27

Paranaque Representative Roilo Golez condemned CAP for giving only about 400 pesos per sem to most of about 700,000 CAP planholders under a court rehabilitation program.

Chit Baita, head of a group of CAP planholders, questioned court-appointed receiver Mamerto Marcelo for allowing CAP to sell its MRT III bonds and use the proceeds to pay off other firms owned by CAP owners, the Sobrepenas, instead of using the money to pay planholders.

May 1

CAP responded to the report that it is giving out only 400 to 500 pesos per sem to planholders by announcing that it has paid over 220 million to planholders since 2007 and that it is following court-approved schedules for paying planholders in installments up to 2011 and then full payments starting 2012.

CAP instructed planholders to check its list of 147,000 planholders on its website www.cap.com.ph for 334,000 checks ready for release.

May 1

Investigators said fraudulent schemes and fund diversions led to the collapse of Legacy’s banks and pre-need firms. Legacy’s pre-need firms owe about 1.3 billion pesos to its estimated 50,000 pre-need planholders, including more than 12,000 soldiers and police officers who have paid over 320 million pesos through monthly salary deductions by the AFPSLAI.

May 6

Coco Plans said it has 1.4 billion in its trust fund and it is able to cover maturing policies within the next 9 years, according to Coco Plans president

Caesar Michelena. He said the deficiency of 190 million will be covered within 3 years under a program submitted to the SEC.

May 7

The SEC announced that three preneed firms — Coco Plans, AMA Plans and Danvil Plans — had trust fund deficiencies. Coco Plans and Danvil Plans have

already submitted their plans on how they can restore their trust funds to adequate levels.

May 7

Caesar Michelena, president of Coco Plans and  newly-elected head of the Philippine Federation of Pre-need Plan Companies, expressed his hope that no more pre-need company will shut down.

Previous PFPPC President Juan Miguel Vasquez resigned after his firm Permanent Plans decided to cease operations.

May 7

Some Permanent Plans planholders complained at the Senate hearing that Permaplans is offering a 60/40 payment scheme — 40 percent of their maturity value in cash and 60 percent in food and health supplies and lots at a burial site in Payatas.

In a statement made on April 22, Permanent Plans President Juan Miguel Vazquez reiterated that the contracts held by Permaplans planholders allow the company to change the mode of settlement or payment of plans.

May 7

PDIC President Jose Nograles revealed at the Senate hearing that there are still more than 35,000 unclaimed bank accounts under the failed Legacy Group. Senator Mar Roxas asked PDIC to inform the depositors through the mail.

May 12

President Arroyo ordered SEC Chair Fe Barin to determine the financial condition of the preneed firms to ensure that they can meet their obligations

as the plans mature. Arroyo demanded that criminal prosecution be taken against erring firms.

May 13

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said there are loopholes in the law of receivership, allowing failed pre-need firms and other businesses such as condo developers to walk away from their obligations.

May 14

Coco Plans announced that it has paid all its obligations to all its educational planholders this school year.

May 17

The SEC assured pre-need planholders that the 22 licensed preneed firms, including Danvil Plans, are financially stable enough to pay their obligations to their planholders. SEC said it has reviewed the financial records of the pre-need firms.

The 22 pre-need firms with licenses to sell plans this year include AMA Plans, Ayala Plans, Caritas Financial Plans, CityPlans, Cocoplans, Danvil 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 Service, Philam Plans, Provident Plans International, St. Peter Life Plan, Sun Life Financial Plans, Transnational Plans and Trusteeship Plans.

May 19

About 525,000 educational planholders have been trying to get money for their children’s enrolment this school year from 5 failed pre-need firms: CAP, Pet Plans, Platinum Plans, Pacific Plans and TPG Corp.

Meanwhile, Pryce Plans, still solvent but low on cash because it invested in real estate, memorial lots and listed equities, has been issuing checks in queues and paying in kind to consenting planholders.

May 27

President Macapagal-Arroyo returned the SEC under the supervision of DTI, nine years after she placed SEC under DOF. Observers said the transfer was caused by SEC’s failure to prevent the collapse of preneed companies owned by Legacy.

May 29

SEC has required pre-need firms to increase the percentages of their trust fund deposits.  For every peso paid by a pension and education planholder during the first year, the pre-need firm must deposit 70 cents, a big increase from the previous 5-cent requirement.  This requirement will apply only to new plans. Required increases percentages for other plans were also issued.

Above notes were gleaned from various articles and videos published on Inquirer.Net and GMANews.TV.

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

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

5. Issues to be resolved

The examples of issues are:

• non-payment of claim
• non-registration of pre-need company
• non-registration of pre-need plan
• refusal to reinstate pre-need plan
• inaccurate termination value
• mismanagement of trust fund
• illegal closure
• any other fraudulent act or misrepresentation done by the pre-need company, its representatives or salespersons

6. Brief statement of relief or solution being claimed by the complainant

In short, what do you want the pre-need company to do for you?

7. What happens after submission to CRRD?

The CRRD is mandated to forward the complaint to the Non-Traditional Securities and Instruments Department (NTD) within 24 hours or not later than the same hour of submission on the next working day.

8. What Happens at the NTD?

The NTD is mandated to number and docket your complaint. This will add your complaint to a list or register of complaints with codes for easy reference.

9. Mandatory mediation hearings

The NTD orders you, the complainant, and a representative of the pre-need company to appear in a mediation hearing not later than 15 days from receipt of complaint. The NTD will send a notice of mediation at least 5 days before the hearing.

If you fail to appear at the hearing without prior notice and justifiable reason, your complaint will be dismissed. If you attend the hearing, but the pre-need company representative fails to appear, NTD will resolve the issue according to your documents.

10. What happens if the mediation fails?

Both you, the complainant, and the pre-need company file position papers within 10 days from date of failed mediation hearing.

The position paper includes:

• statement of facts
• statement of issues to be resolved
• presentation of arguments (refer to documents and affidavits you attached)
• claims or solutions

11. Decision

The NTD will issue a decision not later than 10 working days from the date following receipt of the filing of the position paper. The NTD must state the basis of the decision.

The NTD will also forward a copy of the decision to the Compliance and Enforcement Department (CED) of the SEC within five (5) days from date of decision.

12.  Appeal

The complainant or the pre-need company can file an appeal of the decision within 10 days from receipt of the decision.

Lastly, the downloadable SEC complaint form has a notary public portion.  So, if you use your own format, it is advisable that you have your complaint notarized.

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.

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:

SEC List of Pre-Need Firms With 2009 Dealer’s License

Article by Salve Duplito on Inquirer Money Smarts