SANASA Life Insurance Company and GIZ Sri Lanka’s partnership supports 21,000+ farmers

A partnership initiated by the GIZ SME Development project in Sri Lanka, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with leading insurance provider, SANASA Life Insurance Company (SLIC) has created history by becoming the first-ever company to reinstate the life insurance policies for over 21,000 farmers and SMEs. 

This was an effort to mitigate the devastating effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown imposed across the country in March 2020, that resulted in these two groups being among the worst-affected. 

The partnership between SLIC and GIZ began in 2018 with the development of the iFarm mobile application. It was an effort made to provide for the agriculture insurance product, to address the adverse effects of changing climate conditions. The app was designed to ensure that farmers would not have to travel to claim insurance coverage and would be re-imbursed within a short timeframe. 

When the country went into lockdown, the companies saw an opportunity to extend their partnership beyond digitalising the agriculture insurance reach. The partnership reinstated insurance policies for those individuals or smallholder businesses who had let it lapse due to inability to pay the premiums. To further reduce the credit risk and attain a smooth claiming process in future, SLIC and GIZ also widened the introduction of the policyholders to the iFarm application.

GIZ Sri Lanka Country Director Christiane Einfeldt highlighted the importance of collaboration within the public and private sector, especially in times of crisis to mitigate some of the effects. “It is imperative that both the public and private sectors work in tandem to support the Small and Medium Enterprises and agriculture communities during this time of need. Access to markets and technologies for the agriculture communities has always been a priority for GIZ and would continue to implement such measures,” she said.

SLIC has always taken its role as a leading corporate citizen who is focused on the wellbeing of its stakeholder community and the people. In addition to the reinstating of the lapsed policies, the SLIC team has gone a step further in helping the people of the country by introducing a Rs. 1 million free COVID-19 cover, for any new life insurance policy. 

SANASA Life Chief Executive Officer Indika Kiriwandeniya stated, “We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great hardship to millions of Sri Lankans. Our customers who depend on small businesses for their monthly income were suddenly left with no funds to even buy food, let alone their insurance premiums. As a company that believes in helping people in their hour of need, to help these 21,000+ farmers and policyholders to face the future with confidence now that their pending premiums have been settled and their life insurance policies have been reinstated. 

SANASA Life Insurance has been a giant in the field of insurance in Sri Lanka for nearly 30 years. It was established for the purpose of giving relief to the people of rural areas who met with accidents. In October 1991 All Lanka Mutual Assurance Organization (ALMAO) was established and the monthly fee was set to a small sum of Rs. 5 to 20 and thereby the foundation for an immense insurance company was laid. 

In 2003, SANASA obtained the license to operate as a Life Insurance company and two years later acquired the license to operate as a General Insurance company. Today, SANASA is one of the leading insurance service providers in Sri Lanka providing thousands of job opportunities to the younger generation.