Microinsurance  

Training manual
"Making Insurance Work for Microfinance Institutions"
by C. Churchill, D. Liber, M.McCord and J. Roth 

The Social Finance Programme and the Turin Training Centre offer a course that guides MFI managers through the complexities of offering basic insurance products, either on their own or in partnership with an insurance company. This course helps managers to determine whether it is appropriate to offer insurance, which type of insurance product(s) to offer, and through what institutional structure. The bulk of this course is dedicated to four aspects:

• The fundamentals of the insurance business, including benefit design, insurance terms, pricing and controls;

• The design of five basic, short-term, credit-linked insurance policies, both mandatory and voluntary;

• Outsourcing part or most of the insurance responsibilities to a formal insurance company or to skilled consultants;

• The financial management and operational integration of an insurance business into a microfinance institution.

While low-income households have many needs and vulnerabilities, the contents of this manual are limited to basic life and disability products because they respond to an important need while being less difficult for MFIs to offer. The insurance business is highly complex and carries significant risk, thus basic life insurance is a good starting point for an MFI.

This manual is also relevant, however, to organisations that want to offer other types of insurance, such as health or property, because it provides a strong introduction to insurance fundamentals and offers valuable advice on how to design, negotiate and manage a relationship with an insurance partner.

If you are interested in receiving training, please contact SFP@ilo.org.