“We offer our clients insurance because they face a huge number of risks every day. Without it, they have no safety net to stop them slipping back into abject poverty”
Richard Leftley, president MicroEnsure

Opportunity International launched MicroEnsure, the world's first insurance agency for the poor in 2005. Today Opportunity micro insurance policies cover more than 3 million people.

Why do poor people need insurance? 

Opportunity’s clients are familiar with risk. Their low income means that they regularly face unexpected events such as sickness, loss of livestock, natural disaster and death.

According to the Munich Re Foundation, of the 3 billion people who live on less than £1 a day, fewer than 10 million currently have access to insurance.

Without insurance, low-income households often use their savings and working capital to meet unexpected costs. As a result, a single event can have devastating effects upon a family’s financial well-being. 

For example, market research conducted by Opportunity International in Africa revealed that, on average, 40% of our clients could face a death in the family within the course of a year. Funerals are costly: approximately three months of disposable income.

Opportunity insurance provides a safety net for the poor

Opportunity International is working to address this need. In 2005, MicroEnsure began with a pilot programme in Uganda.

Today, its insurance policies cover more than 3 million people in Ghana, Colombia, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, the Philippines, Uganda, West Timor, Zambia and Zimbabwe. MicroEnsure has established subsidiaries in Ghana, the Philippines and Uganda.

Instead of living their lives one disaster away from utter destitution, Opportunity’s insurance clients are protected against a number of risks, from death or natural disaster to unfavourable weather conditions. 

Some examples

In Malawi - Opportunity has developed a weather-indexed crop-insurance product in partnership with the World Bank. This insurance product pays out when there is insufficient rainfall for groundnut production. 

Prior to this innovation, banks were unwilling to lend to groundnut farmers because of the great risk: How would farmers repay the loan in the event of drought? 

Poor farmers had another strike against them. Without sufficient funds, they were unable to purchase a higher quality seed that has better resistance to drought. 

Now, because of the new weather insurance, farmers are creditworthy and able to secure finances needed to purchase certified seed.

In Mexico - Credit life insurance means that a client’s loan repayments are covered in case of her death, so the family left behind is not burdened with debt repayments on top of their loss.