ETIQA TAKAFUL SUMBANG RM237,900.00 KEPADA MADRASAH DARUL ISTIQAMAH

14 Mei 2011, Muar - Etiqa Takaful hari ini menyumbangkan RM237,900.00 kepada Madrasah Darul Istiqamah di sini, sekaligus menyediakan tempat kediaman dan kelas pendidikan untuk lebih daripada 130 orang anak-anak yatim dan kanak-kanak kurang berkemampuan serta penjaga dan tenaga pendidik mereka.

“Janji jenama Etiqa adalah menginsankan insurans dan takaful, di mana kami ingin menjadikan semua urusan perniagaan takaful senang dan mudah untuk para pelanggan dan orang ramai. Janji jenama ini digunapakai dalam semua aspek di syarikat ini, begitu juga dalam program komuniti kami. Kami juga mahu menjadikan kehidupan lebih senang dan mudah untuk mereka yang kurang berkemampuan dan memerlukan bantuan,” kata En Rohaizad Abdul Rahman, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Kawasan Selatan, Etiqa Takaful Berhad.

Etiqa Takaful turut menghadiahkan 2 unit pembersih air untuk memastikan agar penghuni-penghuni madrasah tersebut dapat menikmati kemudahan air yang bersih.

Program sepanjang satu hari ini bukanlah hanya mengenai sumbangan berbentuk kebendaan sahaja kerana lebih daripada 100 wargakerja Etiqa dari Kuala Lumpur dan Negeri Sembilan turut hadir untuk beramah mesra dengan penghuni rumah ini melalui pelbagai aktiviti seperti sesi berkenalan, sesi motivasi, acara sukan dan permainan.

Rohaizad menerangkan, ”Ini adalah salah satu aktiviti di bawah program Tanggungjawab Zakat Korporat kami yang telah dilaksanakan selama beberapa tahun. Di bawah program ini, kami menggunakan sebahagian daripada duit zakat tahunan kami untuk memberikan bantuan terus dan segera kepada institusi-institusi yang benar-benar memerlukan bantuan kami. Sejak program ini dimulakan, kami telah membantu lebih daripada 16 institusi-institusi kebajikan dan lebih 1,500 anak-anak yatim dan keluarga yang kurang bekemampuan di seluruh negara.”

Lebih daripada RM1.5 juta ringgit dibelanjakan setiap tahun melalui program ini dan bantuan yang diberikan kepada institusi dan keluarga adalah dalam bentuk rumah-rumah baru, asrama, bilik darjah, dewan makan, surau, dewan serbaguna, makmal komputer dan infrastruktur yang lain. Bantuan juga diberi dalam bentuk kenderaan seperti van, komputer, mesin jahit, peralatan permainan dan sukan, buku-buku, alat tulis dan lain-lain lagi.

Program ini menyaksikan lebih daripada 100 wargakerja Etiqa menjadi sukarelawan di setiap institusi dan pusat yang menerima bantuan di seluruh negara seperti di Paya Rumput, Melaka; Manjoi dan Sungai Siput, Perak; Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang; Merbok dan Baling, Kedah; Kota Tinggi, Johor; Tumpat, Kelantan; Kuala Ibai, Terengganu; Tawau, Sabah; Arau dan Kangar, Perlis dan banyak lagi.

Lebih daripada 300 orang tetamu telah hadir ke program hari ini termasuk orang ramai, wakil-wakil Etiqa dan juga wakil-wakil daripada pihak berkuasa tempatan.

“Kami percaya bahawa semua orang boleh memainkan peranan, tidak kira sekecil mana, untuk membantu golongan yang memerlukan dan kurang berkemampuan untuk menikmati kehidupan yang lebih selesa kini dan untuk masa hadapan. Kami berharap agar kanak-kanak ini akan dapat terus berkembang dan membangun untuk menjadi individu yang berjaya supaya mereka pula dapat menyumbang kembali kepada komuniti dan menjadikan dunia ini lebih baik dan bermanfaat,” tambah Rohaizad.

Untuk maklumat lanjut mengenai Etiqa, sila layari laman web kami di www.etiqa.com.my atau telefon Etiqa Online di 1 300 13 8888.

6 Daily Tasks For A Successful Agent

There is always a price for success in any business venture. Insurance selling is without exception. The price for success is to do things you are not comfortable with. You may experience pain by stretching yourself. You may need to make sacrifices in exchange for the success you want.

Successful insurance agents are aware of the price for success. They know the success of their business relies on their own efforts. They know they need a good work habit to assure their business success.

Highly successful agents organize their efforts and religiously execute their business activities on a daily basis. The following are the 6 daily tasks highly effective insurance agents do:

(a) Planning

Top performing agents can multi-task. They are very good at planning their day. They write the game plan. List out the tasks they want to accomplish. Get started and stay busy with the tasks they assign to themselves.

They are able to identify tasks that give them highest payoff and maximize activities that support their sales results. They structure their days in such a manner that they get the most out of every hour spent.

(b) Make appointment

The only reason why we do not have any appointment is because we did not make any in advance. We reap what we sow. If we don't make appointment, we have zero appointment.

To top producers, making appointment is a continuous effort. Telephone call is insurance agents' first contact with their potential customers. Knowing how to interact with prospects over the telephone can make a difference when meeting with them face to face.

They may have called many people, yet they can still remain fresh and enthusiastic. They know they have only once chance to create the first good impression. They do not manufacture enthusiasm, they are genuinely excited when talking to people over the phone.

(c) Face to face with customers

Insurance agents are always put to tests when meeting with their prospects. A number of skill sets are being evaluated when they are up close and personal with their prospects. Doing homework is a must prior to meeting with the customers.

Their ability to build trust with prospects, their tactfulness to move from one phase of the sales process to another, their creative way to arouse interest, their attention to details when listening to customers' concerns, their problem solving skills etc are all always scrutinized by their customers.

To high flying agents, the biggest contributor to success will be the amount of time they spend communicating with customers face to face. It is important for them to be in front of their prospects as often as they can.

(d) Getting referral

Top producing agents always have their pipelines filled with referrals. They always have someone else to see at the end of every appointment. To them, getting referrals is not a nice-to-do but a must-do daily task. That explains why they never run out of prospects.

To earn referrals, they make sure they do fantastic jobs for their existing customers. Successful insurance agents build solid relationship with their customers and delight their customers with quality service. In return, they are rewarded with good quality referrals.

(e) Stay motivated

Motivation is the fuel driving insurance agents to keep moving forward. Top performers are able to program their minds so that they can always stay motivated. Their positive mental attitude is one of the reasons why their customers want to do business with them. No one wants to buy from an unmotivated salesperson.

(f) Self improvement

There are days you do not make any single sale. So long as you carry out your sales activities honestly, you will never go home empty handed. There are always lessons you can learn from things you do.

Top achievers always look for opportunities for self improvement. Self improvement does not necessarily mean they have to acquire a new skill. A person can become smarter by learning what mistakes to avoid.

Commitment to improvement is the foundation of greater success. Star agents are always mindful that skills and knowledge is the currency for success. They don't mind to set aside a percentage of their income for personal development.

Successful insurance agents focus on building good work habit. They build habit by diligently carrying out the activities they plan for themselves on a daily basis. It is their habit that brings them incredible experience and achievement.

Habit separates winners from the mediocre.

Foreign workers: Insurance Scheme Unfair To Manufacturer

THE Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) is strongly of the view that the government should abolish or at least defer the mandatory health insurance scheme for foreign workers.

FMM had submitted the manufacturing industry's concerns over the implementation of the scheme for foreign workers.

The policy, which came into force on Jan 1, has several issues that need to be clarified. Employers also face difficulties in complying with some of the provisions. As an interim measure to rectify anomalies, FMM has drawn up a list of recommendations, including that:

The government should not need to appoint approved insurance service providers, set the premium rate or stipulate the class of treatment for the scheme. The government should focus on the minimum policy coverage and the type of treatment to be covered.

The government, specifically the Health Ministry, should make public the criteria and process used to select and approve the 17 insurance service providers.

Employers should be allowed to negotiate with insurance companies of their choice. Employers already providing medical benefits to workers should be exempted from purchasing separate medical insurance cover from "approved" insurance companies.

As a case in point, FMM said one of its members, with 6,000 foreign workers, is self-insuring medical costs for its workers at a cost of RM150,000 per year, in contrast to having to pay fees of nearly RM720,000 per year under the compulsory insurance scheme.

The ministry had tried to justify the scheme by saying that government hospitals had accumulated large unpaid bills for services rendered to foreign workers. This may not necessarily be true.

The ministry should carry out a thorough analysis of the data on defaulters.

It could be that the main culprits were "illegal foreign workers, the self-employed, those employed by sub-contracting agencies or transient workers in the construction and logging sectors".

The new scheme is effectively, therefore, a subsidy by registered legal foreign workers to illegal workers.

The scheme is unfair to the manufacturing sector as most employers in the sector have already lodged a bank guarantee with the ministry.

It is inaccurate to assume that the scheme has the support of the affected stakeholders and could continue to be implemented because 110,000 foreign workers have reportedly purchased the insurance.

These stakeholders are likely to have been compelled to proceed with the purchase because they needed to extend the work permits of their foreign workers.

The FMM statement also said these and other issues could have been minimised through a more extensive consultation with all relevant stakeholders. There was no prior consultation with FMM.

2011/03/17

TAN SRI MUSTAFA MANSUR,

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Kuala Lumpur

The Going Gets Tough For Takaful Industry

By Rupinder Singh

Published: 2010/09/08

Malaysia's takaful industry is expected to step up its performance now that an additional four operators have been issued licences to start business next year, said industry players.

Takaful operators were caught unaware last week when Bank Negara Malaysia announced four new licences instead of two.

"With 12 operators in the country now, we have to work harder to gain market share and profits," said an executive from a takaful group that has been in operation for more than 10 years.

Although Malaysia's takaful industry has seen tremendous growth in the last five years, it still lags behind its conventional peers in terms of total insurance market penetration and share.

It is understood that the penetration rate for takaful industry in Malaysia is around 10 per cent, compared with 40 per cent for conventional insurance.

Another existing takaful executive said the entry of four new players is against the spirit of consolidation that the regulator has been propagating.

However, he said the regulator may have decided to add more players since the Islamic banking and takaful industry has yet to command 20 per cent of the banking and insurance market share targeted by 2010.

Takaful fund assets comprise only 8 per cent of the total assets of the Malaysian insurance and takaful industry although it has more than doubled in this same period from RM5.87 billion in 2005 to RM10.5 billion in 2008 and RM12.4 billion in 2009.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said last year that the liberalisation measures, including new licences, are in line with the provisions and timetable set out in the Financial Sector Master Plan (FSMP) announced in 2001.

The government said then that the measures are aimed at enhancing "inter-linkages to leverage on global developments in Islamic finance and reinforce Malaysia's position as an international Islamic financial hub."

In this context, it will be interesting to see how new takaful players would contribute in areas where there are gaps in the financial system and in which there are new areas of growth in the financial system.

The four new licences issued to joint ventures are between American International Assurance Bhd (70 per cent) and Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (30 per cent); AMMB Holdings Bhd (70 per cent) and Friends Provident Group plc, UK (30 per cent); ING Management Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd (60 per cent), Public Bank Bhd (20 per cent) and Public Islamic Bank Bhd (20 per cent); and the joint venture between The Great Eastern Life Assurance Co Ltd (70 per cent) and Koperasi Angkatan Tentera Malaysia Bhd (30 per cent).

Existing takaful operators include CIMB Aviva Takaful Bhd, Etiqa Takaful Bhd, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Bhd, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Bhd, Prudential BSN Takaful Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd and Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd.

In addition, Malaysia has four Retakaful operators, namely, ACR Retakaful SEA Bhd, MNRB Retakaful Bhd, Munchener Ruckversicherungs-Gesellschaft (Munich Re Retakaful) and Swiss Reinsurance Co Ltd (Swiss Re Retakaful); and one International Takaful Operator in AIA Takaful International Bhd.

6 Simple Ways To Claim Hospital Benefit (for Takaful Mesra, Sarjana, Prima, Warisan & Medic Save

1. You need to be admitted at least one (1) day or receiving treatment at the treatment room for six (6) hours.

2. Once you out of the ward, get 'discharge note' that contains the date in and out of hospital, and diagnosis of disease you are experiencing. Only the 'discharge note' is needed to claim admission to the ward less than a week.

3. If you are admitted to the hospital for over a week, the 'medical report' to be submitted for review of the Etiqa Takaful. Application for a 'medical report' may be made to the hospital on payment of RM 40.00 and can usually be received within four (4) weeks.

4. Fill in the form of claims that can be taken from the nearest Etiqa branch or through your representative. Include a copy of 'discharge note' or 'medical report', copies of three (3) pieces of the front page of the policy and claim form has been filled (in Etiqa Takaful, which required only a copy, no need for the original policy).

5. Send to a branch near you. Cheque payments will be accepted through the mail to your current address in less than a month.

6. For any problems or queries about the status of claims, please call our customer service line at 1-300-13-8888 (Etiqa Oneline Contact Centre).

by Nur Amin Abdullah