Entrepreneur urges young people to get insured through a life policy

A YOUNG woman is encouraging young people across the country to move away from wantok system, take responsibility of their own lives and get insured through a life policy.
Jacqueline Joseph, co-founder and chief executive officer of Equal Playing Field (EPF) recently purchased BSP Life PNG’s Wantok Delite product for a period of 15 years.
“In the past, the wantok system probably was a need but now a lot of things have changed and part of that change comes with understanding how life insurance works,” she said.
“With BSP Life insurance, the Wantok Delite product was attractive for me as it came with individual life insurance that also had a savings component.
“While I appreciate the wantok system, I want to do something for myself. I want to be able to stand and tell the future generation that this is how things are done. It is concerning that only two per cent or 160,000 of the eight million Papua New Guineans are insured.”
Joseph signed up for the Wantok Delite product three months ago.
She said the options BSP Life offered was flexible in a sense that one could afford as well and one would be able to get a return on it after three years.
Joseph and her team of EPF volunteers work in schools to prevent violence against women by helping girls and boys develop healthy, respectful relationships. BSP Life PNG will be part of the two-month nationwide inclusive insurance campaign in the country and would focus on creating more awareness not only around its products but generally making more Papua New Guineans aware of the benefits of having one’s life insured.
Facilitated by the Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion (Cefi), PNG Insurance Council, Bank South Pacific (BSP), Office of Insurance Commissioner and other insurance industry partners – this is the first insurance campaign in the country.
BSP Life PNG Ltd country manager, Nilson Singh said as a new competitor in the insurance sector they were happy to be a part of the campaign with a sponsorship of K10,000 to support the event.
BSP Life PNG Ltd, a subsidiary of the BSP group, is a licensed life insurance company which commenced operations in PNG in January 2018.