KARACHI: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Insurance Division Director Waseem Khan said on Tuesday Pakistan has no public programme for disaster insurance even though it ranks fifth on the list of countries that are most vulnerable to disaster.

Speaking at a news briefing ahead of the International Insure­Impact Conference to be held on Dec 13 and 14, Mr Khan said the government should consider ways to disburse disaster-related allocations through a disaster risk insurance mechanism as opposed to one-off budgetary expenses to make the system self-sustaining.

There are 42 insurance companies in Pakistan, with a total premium of Rs553 billion and 10 million active policies. Insurance penetration, which is premiums as a percentage of GDP, is only 0.87 per cent in Pakistan. The premium per person amounts to only Rs2,776. About 68pc of total premiums collected by insurance companies fall in the life insurance category.

Mr Khan also highlighted that there’s no public property insurance programme in place while barely 3pc of 30m registered vehicles in Pakistan are insured. Out of 241m people, less than 8m have life insurance, he pointed out while highlighting the magnitude of the task at hand.

Crop insurance is used by less than 10pc of the 8m farmers while less than 500,000 of the 32m registered properties are currently insured.

Speaking on the occasion, SECP Insurance Commissioner Aamir Khan said the regulator is aiming to boost insurance penetration through its five-year plan, which envisages utilising technology, raising awareness about insurance products and promoting crop and disaster risk insurance.

According to the five-year plan, the number of lives covered will be increased to over 15m individuals. Insurance penetration is targeted to hit 1.5pc of GDP while the share of digital distribution will rise to 5pc.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2023