Ysabel Victoria Benitez, Insurance Advisor

13/10/2025

23/08/2024

Totoo nga ba?

“Bata pa naman siya. It doesn’t make sense na kuhanan na siya ng insurance.”

When it comes to insurance planning, the parents being the breadwinners, should always be the priority.

If there are financial limitations/constraints, and it’s a choice between covering the parents OR the kids, parents should always be prioritized.

But there is also wisdom in getting your children life/health insurance while they are young, especially if the parents are more financially able:

1) IT COVERS THEM FOR LIFE.

Imagine getting the policy while they are A YEAR old, that policy already covers them until they 99 years old!

So regardless of their health status when they start working, you would have secured them already with a life/health insurance coverage. Na approve na sila when they were young, ‘di na yan mababawi pa sakanila, basta active (hindi lapsed) ang coverage nila.

Madaming in their 20s who can’t apply for a coverage (life insurance) because of certain health conditions.

Kaya now that your kids are still in great health, good to get them this coverage! 🙂

2) HEALTH CONDITIONS KNOW NO AGE.

These days, we can no longer predict who and when will fall sick. Unfortunately, age is no longer a reliable factor to determine who gets sick first.

Hence, it pays to be more prudent and have coverage for the ALL members of the family.

Minimal coverage is always better than none 🙂

3) YOU ARE GETTING THE SAME BENEFIT FOR A CHEAPER AMOUNT.

Say, you want to get a 1M coverage for your child.

1M while they are A YEAR old, may only cost P12k per year vs. getting a 1M coverage at the age of 30, which can be between 25k to 30k per year already.

Same amount of benefit, cheaper price 🙂

———-
Parents are the priority but it is also wise to get kids covered the moment we are more financially able! 🧡

Ikaw? bakit mo kinuhanan ng coverage ang children mo this early? Share your thoughts with us! 🧡

28/02/2024

Having been raised by a single mom, I felt that one of my mom’s biggest dreams (and fears) while we were growing up is making sure that 1) she will able to provide for us until we are able to provide for ourselves 2) we are able to live comfortably even when she’s no longer around.

I was reminded by this recently when I was talking to a single mom who found herself in the same paradigm.

Having been my client for 11 years and raising her 3 year old single-handedly, she was recently prodded to review all her policies with our company.

To her surprise, her effort of setting aside little by little each year (since 2013) is now more than a million already in savings and about 7 million in total life insurance coverage — something she could leave behind for her child, should anything happen unexpectedly.

And this, she says, makes her “sleep a little better at night knowing that she did everything she can to take care of her child and her dreams for him.”

On days when we, insurance advisors need a little bit more push to keep going despite seenzones and rejections, we turn to encounters like this that remind us that we are doing something worthwhile and significant for the families that rely on us 🙂

Cant stop, won’t stop 💙🧡





Photo taken from the internet only 🙂

07/11/2023

HEALTH INSURANCE THAT COVERS FOR LIFE? 😍

03/11/2023

This got me thinking 🤔

Over morning coffee, I was scrolling through facebook.

Having friends from different life insurance companies, I have seen the "lowest" offers of Life and Health Insurance all over the internet. PABABAAN pa nga. 😅

This is because most, if not all, companies have already made insurances really affordable for us.

But the fact remains na madami pa din walang insurance sa Pilipinas. Insurance companies have even reported a very low claims experience during our recent pandemic battle.

Should be good right?

But this can also be indicative of the very slim percentage of Filipinos who own insurance. We resort to paying everything from out of pocket, effectively draining our life’s worth of savings.

While I understand that affordability of insurances plays a huge role, I believe a greater hurdle is also about UNDERSTANDING why insurance should be part of a household’s PRIORITY.

For most, ‘Di pa siya must have, nice to have palang siya.

I remember someone telling me before, pag nag taas ang MERALCO ng singil, what are we going to do? We’re still going to find ways to pay for it. We’ll cut back on expenses to afford electricity — because it’s a priority. Because we know we can’t go on without it.

I have clients who undergo tough times in their finances during this pandemic but would tell me that cutting off payments for their insurances was never an option. Not because they have more to spare but because they’re more worried about their children going through life without it.

To my friends and fellow Pinoys, if up to this time, you have not decided to get a policy for yourself or any of your family members (yes even your kids need health coverages!), do reach out to an agent/advisor. I am sure there is one that suits your budget just fine.

But while you’re at it, really try to hear out why it should be a priority in the household. It will prevent mountainload of problems, in case the inevitable happens.

Madaming namang murang option. We just have to be open to it and understand why it’s truly important.

Ikaw, friend? What was your motivation in getting insurance? Do reach out if you’d like to share your thoughts about this too! 🙂

Stay safe and well, everyone!

25/09/2023

HOPE-FILLED ENCOUNTER 🧡
(Long post ahead)

In January 2013, exactly TEN YEARS AGO,
I was seated in Insular Life’s National Leaders Assembly in Alabang.

It was my first leaders assembly with the company as I just transitioned from employment to becoming a full-time financial advisor and agency leader.

I distinctly remember attending that event feeling a bit uneasy yet also inspired, having been surrounded by a lot of successful agency leaders.

I was in an unfavorable financial situation.
I had zero savings.
I didn’t know how to save & budget.
I had no concept of an emergency fund despite having been employed for four years.

This was the time I heard Jayson Lo’s story for the very first time. He was our main motivational speaker and he shared his life story — how he ventured into businesses, made mistakes, incurred debts, learned and eventually, overcame.

I felt I was the perfect audience for his talk.

Our family business (insurance agency) which my mom and I were managing together, was just starting (seven months in at the time), we were still building and were really challenged with day to day operations.

Everyday was an act of faith for us.

But everyday, we also tried our best to couple our unceasing prayers with HARDWORK and HEARTWORK 🧡

The sincerity of Jayson’s talk left a mark and I went home feeling blessed and hopeful that whatever financial situation we were in, we too could overcome, by the grace of God.

Feeling so blessed and inspired by his talk, while in the office the next day, I sent him an email, thanking him for sharing his story and even apologized that I wasn’t able to buy his book because I only had about P500 in my wallet, which was the last of my personal money. But as soon I could, I would.

He promptly replied to my email, sent messages of hope my way and asked for my address.

A few days later, to my surprise, his book YOUNIQUE, which I intended to buy, arrived in our office. 🥹

“People will forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel”. and that gesture, I will always remember because it sparked so much hope in me.

That act of kindness went a long way.

Last Saturday, ten years later, I had the opportunity of meeting Jayson again.

My sister and I were invited to speak to Genzs and Millennials about our InLife story and I was surprised to hear that Mr Jayson Lo was going to speak in a segment before us.

I knew I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to thank him for what he did for me ten years ago. Hence, the second photo.

This is the perfect reminder that a random act of kindness can impact someone’s life for a day, a year or even a decade. Your story can be someone’s source of hope and inspiration tomorrow.

That encounter made a dent in my life - a dent of hope which I still try my best to share with others to this day through the business and mission I was called to do 🙂

Paying it forward, always. 🧡 Thank you again, Mr Jayson Lo!

19/07/2023

"How quick is the processing of a Life Insurance Claim?"

Over the past 11 years that I have been servicing clients for their life insurance needs, this question NEVER fails to crop up, which is understandable given the mixed feedback in the market.

While the usual default answer would be the standard turnaround time of most insurance companies (24-48 hours), my usual response would be, “IT DEPENDS”.

I believe clients deserve to know the many factors that could affect the speed of a claim.

And contrary to common belief, it's not just about the insurance company 🙂

Based on the experience I've had with the claims I've handled, here are the usual factors that could potentially impact the acceptance/denial of a LIFE INSURANCE CLAIM:

1. HOW OLD IS YOUR POLICY?

In the first two years of an insurance policy, the claim automatically falls under the insurance company's contestability period.

Within this period, any life insurance claim will be subject to further review to check if there were details on the client's application (most commonly on health status) that were undisclosed during the application. This evaluation causes the claim process to take longer than a company's usual turnaround time.

After two years however, the life insurance policy falls under the incontestable period and under the insurance code, if the policy falls under the incontestability period, the policy may no longer be contested, except on the BASIS of non-payment of premiums. Thus, (ideally) speeding up the claim process.

2. ARE YOUR DOCUMENTS COMPLETE?

We've processed claims that took only 24 hours and claims processed for more than a month. And this was the common reason.

For the usual life insurance claims, the most common documents required from clients are birth certificate of the insured and beneficiaries, death certificates, CENOMAR (if client is single), marriage certificate (if married), and the standard forms from the insurance company.

Other requirements might be asked for on a case to case basis.

We encourage clients to have an emergency folder containing these important documents together with the CONTACT NUMBER of your advisor so beneficiaries would be able to collate it immediately, should something happen.

3. ARE THE POLICY DETAILS AND DOCUMENTS ALIGNED?

Upon delivery of the policy to a client, we encourage clients to check on the spelling and accuracy of details in the policy.

Tama ba ang spelling ng name ng insured? ng beneficiaries? Birthdays? Place of birth? Civil status? These details are farmost essential and could speed up or slow down the claims process as well.

Hence, we encourage clients to review this immediately and notify advisors so we can then submit to the insurance company to update/amend the contract.

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These are just about THREE of the most common reasons that can affect the speed of a claim. There may be others depending on every case.

I believe that every insurance company's THRUST is to be able to deliver what it has promised to their clients, the SOONEST TIME POSSIBLE.

But as clients, we can also take part in speeding up our claims by ensuring the completeness and accuracy of our policy details, beginning from the application process 🙂

06/06/2023

"Is it too late or too expensive for my Senior Citizen Parents to get a life insurance coverage?"

Today, at a time when more and more millennials are starting to discover and understand the importance of having a life insurance coverage for themselves, I hear a lot of them also wondering, "can my parents still get a life insurance coverage? Or is it already quite difficult or too expensive?"

Do you ask about this too? Shared my experience in working with millennials and their parents in this two-minute video 👇👇👇

25/04/2023

The pandemic brought about significant stress on the finances many Filipinos. Safe to say that majority of our finances weren't prepared to withstand a crisis such as the CoVid-19 pandemic.

It is important to note that a crisis doesn't always mean a global pandemic. Crisis may also be personal, such as a job/income loss or an illness of a family member.

"Crisis-proof Your Finances" is a module that aims to help Filipinos bounce back financially after the pandemic. It focuses on the learnings, mindset and action steps that one could take to prepare and safeguard their finances in case of a crisis.

In photo: "Crisis-proof your Finances" session for a distribution company in Mandaluyong.

30/03/2023

Graduation Day!!! 👩🏻‍🎓🎓

Underwent this 8-week certification course to deepen my understanding of risk management, investment and estate planning and how these could apply and help my clients in their varied lifestages and goals.

Grateful for the trust of my clients that enables me to invest in courses like this so I may likewise give back the proper guidance and service due to them and their families 🧡

Grateful for our three Chief Knowledge Officers, Jong Merida, Ricky So and Atty Le'o Molina Cabrera for this life-changing course 🙂

Great afternoon too celebrating and reuniting with classmates and industry friends and mentors 🙂