Building resilience and supporting economic revival by strengthening SMEs to face any unexpected eventuality, Sri Lanka’s leading private sector bank HNB PLC partnered with HNB Assurance to offer its SME customer portfolio with a key person insurance cover.
The pioneering initiative was created to safeguard SMEs in its lending portfolio from financial losses in the unfortunate event of the death or total permanent disability (TPD) of its key employee. Moreover, the partnership will provide businesses opting for the beneficial add-on facility with a slew of unique benefits from both institutions.
“It is crucial that businesses make contingency plans to face any unexpected events, especially given today’s challenging conditions. SMEs are the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy, making up 52% of the GDP and contributing to 45% of national employment; we must take steps to meet any eventuality.
“As such, we leveraged the strength of the HNB Group to share the burden of unexpected events with our SME customers, who are more vulnerable to disruptions in their operations. The Key Person Insurance cover will give businesses peace of mind, knowing that they are protected and, by extension, ensuring they are better equipped to navigate any unexpected challenges. We believe that this initiative will provide an added layer of financial protection to SMEs and help build resilience within the sector while supporting the long-term economic growth of Sri Lanka,” HNB Assistant General Manager-SME, Kalaivasan Indravasan said.
In case of any unforeseen eventuality, the entire insured limit of facilities would be settled by the insurance claim, including any outstanding dues on the facility, with the balance amount being credited to the legal heirs.
Notably, the partnership opens the loan facility to individuals up to 70 while extending the insurance coverage to 75 years of age, supporting businesses to retain their veteran employees and leverage their expertise to navigate the volatile conditions.
“Our Key Person Insurance program was specifically designed with HNB to address some of the most difficult pain points SMEs feel today, such as when the key Person of a business is lost. Such situations can disrupt the company’s competitive advantage and business continuity. By providing this crucial coverage, we hope to help mitigate these inherent risks at a crucial juncture for many SMEs to ensure their continued success.” HNB Assurance Chief Executive Officer Lasitha Wimalarathne said.
Additionally, HNB Assurance will help offset costs required to assist in hiring temporary assistants, recruiting a successor, and offsetting losses due to decreased ability to transact business until successors are trained and developed.
Eligibility of employees and individuals for the programme will be decided on in close collaboration with HNB, with emphasis given to individuals whose expertise, knowledge and network are critical to the continued existence and success of the company.
HNB Assurance PLC (HNBA) is a leading Life Insurance Company in Sri Lanka with a network of 64 branches. HNBA is a Life Insurance company with a rating of ‘A+’ (lka) by Fitch Ratings Lanka for ‘National Insurer Financial Strength Rating’.
With 256 customer centres, HNB is one of Sri Lanka’s largest, most technologically innovative private banks. Consolidating its legacy in sustainability, good governance and corporate excellence, HNB was crowned the Best Corporate Citizen for 2022 at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Best Corporate Citizen Awards. The bank further secured four additional accolades, including being among the Top 10 Best Corporate Citizens and taking home the Governance category and Sustainability Champion for the Finance sector titles.
Similarly, HNB was ranked among the World’s Top 1,000 Banks list compiled by the prestigious UK-based Banker Magazine for the sixth consecutive year in 2022, in addition to being crowned the Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka for the 12th occasion at the prestigious International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2022 hosted by the Asian Banker Magazine.
