Maseru Econet Telecom Lesotho (ETL) and the National Life Assurance Company have upgraded their insurance policy from EcoSure Mpolokeng to EcoSure Re Bolokehile. Launched in 2013, EcoSure Mpolokeng is offered by ETL and underwritten by Lesotho National Life Assurance Company. Since 2013, EcoSure Mpolokeng could only cover one person but the new EcoSure Re Bolokehile can take multiple beneficiaries through its family cover facility. ETL Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Dennis Platjies, told the media in Maseru yesterday that the changes would ensure increased insurance penetration. These changes that will drive Ecosure to new heights encompass new products and partnerships within Lesotho and beyond, Mr. Platjies said. He said the most anticipated change is the ability to cover family members under one policy which EcoSure Mpolokeng did not have. Customers can now cover spouses, biological and adopted children and parents for both the policyholder and spouse with one simcard whereas, previously, it was one simcard for one person. He said with the improved EcoSure funeral cover, policyholders can affordably cover dependents under any of the new premiums and the corresponding payable cover amount will be paid when such the dependent passes on. For his part, Lesotho National Life Assurance Company managing director, Joseph Letsoela, said ETL has made life easy for Basotho. Insurance used to be a process of long procedures with lots of paperwork but ETLs EcoSure has made things fast and simple because people can now register for insurance with their mobile phones without having to queue for long, Mr. Letsoela said. He said in the modern day, it was important to align with technology as it made life easier. He said EcoSure was part of the technology that simplified peoples lives. Mr. Letsoela said he was happy that the partnership has grown from where they started off in 2013 as evidenced by the upgrade. Acting head of department; Econet services, Makatleho Raphoolo, said the minimum age to join the policy remains 18 years while the maximum covered age has been adjusted from 65 to70. She said the waiting period also remains six months for deaths caused by natural causes implying that a member is covered after six premium payments. Another exciting innovation on EcoSure is that customers can now register as sponsors to as many policyholders as they wish. This means that other peoples monthly premiums can automatically be deducted from the sponsors simcards, she said. Yet another change is that, the M49 monthly subscription has been reduced to M45 while the payout has been increased from M20 000 to M30 000. Ecosure has also introduced a new higher premium plan at M75 per month for a M50 000 payout. The M37 premium that used to pay out M15 000 cover together with the M25 are being replaced by the M30 plan which comes with the M20 000 cover. She also noted that the M9 premium has been phased out with the lowest premium now being M15 monthly while the benefits increase three-fold. That means for an additional M6 on the old M9 premium, the cover increases from M2 500 to M10 000. For those on the M14, an additional M1 doubles the cover from M5 000 to M10 000. These changes mean there is a huge increase in the cover and more flexibility on the conditions. We have listened to our customers request for a family cover product and Re Bolokehile is the answer. The idea is to keep improving the product and enhance value for our customers, Ms. Raphoolo said. Source: Adopted from: Lesotho Times of 24 30 October 2019; Business Section, Page 7 Required: (a) From this case study, analyse the service-profit chain.