Pre Need

The Senate has ratified the final version of the Pre-Need Code which seeks to protect plan holders and ensure the viability of an industry that has been weakened by a recent spate of bankruptcies and failures.

PRE-NEED companies have been placed in a sticky situation by the new guidelines that raised the minimum trust fund deposits to 50 percent to 60 percent of collected funds, and would like the Securities and Exchange Commission to ease the rules.

SALES of preneed plans were up in the first four months as clients bought more life products during the period, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.

PERMANENT Plans has decided to stop selling pre-need plans because it “no longer believes in the viability” of the pre-need industry given the tough times, its president and chief executive said yesterday.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) urged regulators to compel pre-need companies to account for the estimated billions of pesos they hoarded from lapsed and forfeited plan contracts as well as in-force plans voluntarily surrendered by investors.

THE Securities and Exchange Commission has given ailing pre-need firms four to five years to build up their impaired capital and trust funds as a result of the economic slowdown, its top official said yesterday.

Total sales of the country’s pre-need companies fell 18.56 percent last year to P15.3 billion, according to latest data released by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Non-Traditional Securities Department.

SALES of preneed plans were up last year as more clients bought more life products during the period, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.

The Federation of Pre-need Plan Companies Inc. (FPPCI), which earlier warned of an impending collapse of the industry resulting from strict regulations and the global economic crunch, said the pre-need firms are liquid and will still be able to meet future obligations to planholders.

When the concept of pre-need plans was introduced to the market, it seemed like every man’s dream come true. Especially so when those who bought a plan, say an educational plan, saw that it worked beautifully. The concept was not difficult to sell because of the old Filipino practice of paluwagan which was pretty much…

THE pre-need industry will show a steep deficit for 2008, with liabilities surpassing trust funds, after investment earnings took a beating from the global financial meltdown.

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said three preneed companies have shut down amid the global financial crisis.

PLANHOLDERS should brace for hard times ahead, as preneed companies admitted hefty losses due to the global financial crisis.