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Hello Georgina Diaz
it is a pleasure to meet you today.
I would like to ask you a few questions about your organisation.
Could you tell us about the history of your organization?
It is a pleasure for me to be here too and to tell you about my organisation.
My organisation is a mutual insurance company with 90 years of existence,
where the insured are also the insurers, and it operates in the teaching sector of Costa Rica.
It was created on the 24th December 1921,
it was ahead of the social movements in our country by about 40 years.
It started with one thousand insured and was founded by a truly visionary teacher
who considered the suffering that the families of the deceased went through
when the person was no longer there;
so he started to develop the idea of a system that would protect the families,
and it is the same system we have been following for almost 91 years of our existence
and today there are 143,000 directly insured and about 750,000 indirectly insured.
After analysing the figures at our organisation we can see that
our mutual covers approximately 25% of the Costa Rican population.
And to what do you attribute the success of your organization?
Analising the historical component of our organisation, I believe that
one of the main strengths is the transparency in the management of our organisation.
Also the philosophy of our organisation remaining unchanged for so long
which is the financial protection of the families of the deceased.
Also the transcendence and financial solidarity that has allowed our organisation
to be successful throughout these 91 years and to face the challenges in the market,
the situation 91 years ago was of course different to today’s
and maintaining our values without modifying is what has made our organisation successful.
SSVMN recently established the life insurance Seguros del Magisterio, the first competitor to the State monopoly.
Was there any particular reason why the regulator granted this license?
Our organisation has been preparing for this event for a long time.
In 2008, the new Insurance Law was approved in Costa Rica
and it opened the monopoly that was in place for more than 80 years.
We were prepared for this moment thanks to our participation in organisations such as ICMIF or ICMIF/Americas
that showed us how these processes are in other countries
and we could learn from other organisations similar to us, and this helped us give a really good impression.
So, when the law was promulgated, we immediately presented all the proper documentation to the regulator,
they were very strict and we did not have any sort of concession for the sector,
however we managed to demonstrate that the organisations of the social economy
(mutuals and cooperatives) are successful in this market.
In 2009, we obtained the license and we are the first insurance company in Costa Rica
to break the monopoly in the market and this has enabled us indeed to demonstrate
how we are stronger when we are together in this kind of business.
The regulator did not know about the movement that we represent,
but we were accompanied by ICMIF Americas as part of the process.
When we approached the regulator,
they recognized that as well as being a company with 90 years of experience,
we were backed by a well established organisation that supports the movement globally.
How do you differentiate your organisation from other competitors in the market?
In the Costa Rican market, we can differentiate our organisation thanks to our excellent claims settlement,
it says it all and it represents our main difference in the market in Costa Rica
and that has been why we have been able to penetrate this market, little by little
and with difficulty as it was not prepared for competition,
however what has enabled us to reflect a good image
and differentiated us is our excellent claims settlement and
that we are backed by 91 years without declining a claim in the Costa Rican market.
Thanks a lot Georgina for your collaboration.
Thanks.