Digital Curator, Author at Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

4 Types of Insurance Everyone Needs

4 August 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

insurance everyone needs

There are however, four insurances that most financial experts recommend that all of us have: life, health, auto and long-term disability. Each one of these covers a specific aspect of your life, and each one is very important to your financial future.

Life Insurance
The greatest factor in having life insurance is providing for those you leave behind. This is extremely important if you have a family that is dependent on your salary to pay the bills. Industry experts suggest a life insurance policy should cover “ten times your yearly income.” This sum would provide enough money to cover existing expenses, funeral expenses and give your family a financial cushion. That cushion will help them re-group after your death.

When estimating the amount of life insurance coverage you need, remember to factor in not only funeral expenses, but also mortgage payments and living expenses such as loans, credit cards and taxes, but also child care, and future college costs.

LIMRA, formerly known as the Life Insurance Marketing & Research Association, says that if the primary wage earner dies in a family with dependent children that family will only be able to cover their living expenses for a few months, and four in 10 would have difficulty immediately.

Health Insurance
A recent Harvard study noted that statistically, “your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy.” They also concluded that, “62% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2007 were caused by health problems and 78% of those filers had medical insurance at the start of their illness.”

Those numbers alone should urge you to obtain health insurance, or increase your current coverage. The key to finding adequate coverage is shopping around. While the best option and the least expensive is participating in your employer’s insurance program, many smaller businesses do not offer this benefit.

Long-Term Disability Coverage

This is the one insurance most us think we will never need, as none of us assumes we will become disabled. Yet, statistics from the Social Security Administration show that three in 10 workers entering the workforce will become disabled, and will be unable to work before they reach the age of retirement. Of the population, 12% are currently disabled in some form, and nearly 50% of those workers are in their working years.

By: Linda McMaken

See full story at www.investopedia.com

Advantage & Disadvantage of Insurance

2 August 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

advantage & disadvantage of insurance As a small-business owner, you must assess the risks of your particular enterprise to determine the advantages and disadvantages of commercial insurance. If you’re a sole proprietor, you might be fine simply setting up an automatic savings plan as a cushion against unforeseen expense; however, if you’re the owner of a larger business, you may need commercial insurance to protect against greater risk. The type of business you have also factors in; doctors, for example, are exposed to greater risks than realtors.

Types of Commercial Insurance

In America, all small businesses that employ workers are required by law to have some insurance coverage, such as workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and in some states, disability insurance. If your business uses a car or truck, your state may also require you to purchase commercial auto insurance. However, there are many additional types of insurance beyond this basic minimum. General liability insurance is a broad umbrella policy that covers a business against injuries, accidents and claims of negligence.

Expense

Although business insurance may offer you a hedge against disaster and help you sleep more soundly, it rarely comes cheap. The expense of business insurance is its main disadvantage for small-business owners, who seldom have a lot of cash to devote to “what ifs.” You should shop around to get the best possible commercial insurance rates, but be careful to check out an unfamiliar company to be sure it’s reputable. You may also choose a policy with a higher deductible to cut your monthly payments, but if you do, prudence demands that you set the deductible amount aside in case you suddenly have to come up with it. You must also weigh the coverage a cheaper policy affords. In some cases, the skimpy coverage may not justify the expense.

By: Mary Strain, Demand Media

See full story at smallbusiness.chron.com

5 reasons why insurance is important to an individual in our everyday life

28 July 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

insurance

With the term “insurance” many people understand only about LIC policies. Actually it is not their fault, as they don’t get much exposure and not able to explore why insurance is important. This is good that Govt. is also encouraging the awareness of insurance by various schemes.

Buy some security in advance and be smart

The major benefit of insurance policy is it will provide you risk coverage. E.g. two wheeler insurancewill cost you some Rs 1000/- every year. With that you can make sure that in case of any damage to your bike you can get enough recovery benefit. Similar to that life insurance, car insurance, health insurance and now a day’s even mobile phone insurance will help you to buy a security in advance. An iPhone user can understand the importance of insurance, as the phone can damage anytime. The interesting thing is you have to spend a little amount to buy that coverage. If you plan accordingly then with this small investment indirectly you can be tension free.

Be tension free and take risk as much as you want

Just imagine how much we are planning every day for our future. Child education, marriage,retirement planning, travel plan and many things. What if the earning member of the family died suddenly? These plans for rest of the family should not impact. In that case a term insurance plancan simply save your family’s life. Now those who really understand the importance of insurance would have already buy a term plan. And for others don’t wait till it is very late. Just imagine a minimum amount of 10,000 – 15,000 can buy a life cover of 1 crore. Now you can take risks, don’t have to feel the pressure of doing something out of your box. Enjoy every day life with your family, as everything is planned now.

By: Santanu

See full story at www.mydailylifetips.com

Life Insurance – Is It Really Necessary for Singapore Workers?

26 July 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

life insurance

Employees love to be taken care of – in fact, research suggests that workers’ benefits can be traced all the way back to the Golden Age of Piracy, where Caribbean pirates who fell injured in their dangerous trade would be compensated with shares of silver and gold pooled from their fellow uninjured buccaneers.

Closer to home, some companies may have their own form of booty in place – by providing some sort of financial compensation to an employee (or his/her beneficiaries) who is afflicted with critical illness or even death – the company usually offers this magnanimous health benefit straight from the company’s bowl of goodwill.

The Upside….
Most employers should consider providing insurance coverage for her employees to remain competitive with their rivals for the most talented employees. In addition, employers themselves also stand to gain from the advantage of less expensive health insurance when you consider the lower rate of premiums that come with purchasing insurance for a large group.

This gesture also suggests that the company cares for her employees’ welfare. In fact, some group insurance plans may offer supplementary riders – in effect, a form of preventative care to keep employees healthy and working. Without preventative care, employers might wind up having more employees out of the office than in it – and for long periods of time.

By: Deanna Bonaparte

See full story at community.jobscentral.com.sg

Elderly can draw more Medisave for insurance

9 June 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Elderly-Health-Reforms

From November, elderly Singaporeans can draw more from their Medisave accounts to pay for health insurance.

The Government said the move, which was in response to public feedback, will help keep health-care costs here affordable. On Friday, the Ministry of Health announced that those aged 66 and above will have their Medisave withdrawal limit for MediShield and Integrated Shield plans raised by $200.

This is the second time this year that Medisave withdrawal limits have been increased. In March, the cap went from $800 to $1,000 for those above 75, and from $1,150 to $1,200 for those older than 80.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Transport Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said the decision to allow higher Medisave withdrawals was made partly because of feedback received from the Our Singapore Conversation exercise.

“This is a process of how we can enhance our health-care system, and at the core of it is affordability,” he said on Friday.

“We want to make sure Singaporeans are able to afford the premiums to protect themselves, so that they are able to lead a good life with peace of mind.”

Associate Professor Faishal was speaking on the sidelines of the Intermediate and Long-Term Care Quality Festival in Furama RiverFront Hotel.

The announcement that Medisave withdrawal limits have been increased for insurance premiums comes a month after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally, during which he revealed a pivotal change to MediShield, the national health insurance scheme. In his speech, he said the revamped scheme, MediShield Life, will cover every Singaporean regardless of age or pre-existing conditions. But it will also mean higher premiums.

See full story at health.asiaone.com

photo source: http://topnews.ae/content/27704-pro-elderly-health-reforms-clan-lashes-out-political-establishment-uk

Should Singapore revive unemployment insurance?

7 June 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

unemployment insurance

BY ADRIAN TAN

In the recent climate of fear due to a spate of retrenchments, the debate on unemployment insurance has intensified. However, unemployment insurance is not a new idea to Singapore as there have been previous attempts to run such plans.

As an insurance scheme, policy holders contribute funds into a common pool, which can be tapped on should the policyholders hit certain requirements.

Hence, the concept of unemployment insurance (where premiums are typically paid by the workers and companies), is fundamentally different from the concept of unemployment benefits (a welfare scheme where unemployed workers receive an allowance from the government).

Organisations which have rolled out unemployment insurance-related plans include NTUC Income, Singapore Professionals and Executives Cooperate (SPEC), and Pana Harrison. These plans were unsuccessful as the claims exceeded what the insurers were prepared to pay, or the take-up rate was low.

For example, NTUC Income launched a Retrenchment Insurance Plan in 2004 for all Singaporeans and PRs who were Income policyholders. The take-up rate was not sufficient, causing the plan to be withdrawn.

Regardless of these failures to implement a full-scale unemployment or retrenchment-related insurance plan, there are still insurance plans that incorporate an element of unemployment or retrenchment-related coverage

See full story at sbr.com.sg

Importance of Having a Life Insurance

2 June 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

life insurance

Having insurance can be a little confusing since it actually has a lot of different types of it. There’s the property insurance, educational insurance, business insurance, life insurance, etc. With all these things, people may experience having difficulty of deciding what they want or need. Well I say, you need insurance to everything you have. As people get older, more and more responsibilities can come across.

Ideally, when a person graduated from college, they will pursue with their dream job or just grabbing any opportunity for them to gain an income. After which, you need to look out for your health so it’s time to get yourself a life insurance. Having insurance will not be hard for you since you are now earning your own money. Then in between of you minding your own business and having a job, you will eventually find the person you want to marry, have kids, build a house, and buy your own car. You can even have a pet dog or cat if you wanted to. The important thing here is that you need to get insurance in every little thing that you manage to own because you work hard for that.

So what really is Insurance? Insurance actually is an arrangement by a private company or government agency that provides you a guarantee of having compensation after a particular incident; it may be a loss, damage, illness, or even death, in return for a payment of a premium which you have given to the company or agency when you started a contract with them. Basically, insurance gives you the security that despite unfortunate incident, you can get something based from your contribution to them, which will be beneficial to you and your family.

Still not convinced? Here are 5 reasons why you need to have a life insurance:

1. To protect your family and loved ones

If your family members or any loved ones depend on you for financial support, having a life insurance really is a must, because it allows them to receive an amount depending on your contribution and replacing your income once you die. Having insurance is important especially for parents of young children or adults who would find it difficult to
sustain their cost of living if they will eventually no longer have access to their partner who provides for the family.

2. To leave inheritance

Even if you don’t have several properties or assets to pass on to your heir, you can make an inheritance by buying life insurance policies naming them as your beneficiaries. This is a great way to give your children a solid financial future and provide monetary need that arises as you give your contribution.

3. Pay off debts and other expenses

Ideally, when you cannot provide cash on the counter pay for your car or house, it would be easier for you to pay for it monthly or quarterly. It would be important for your family to have the insurance to cover any outstanding debts, like your car loan, credit cards and most importantly, your mortgage. Other expenses include burial or funeral payments that can easily run up to thousands of dollars. You don’t want to leave it all behind to your grieving family, children, spouse, and friends with the entire extra financial burden.

4. More financial security

Like any other parents, you would really want to assure your children that they can be taken care of, physically or financially, once you are gone. It is important to ensure your children that they can go to a good quality college education, or even to provide financial support when they get married or tried to start a business even if you’re not
walking in this world anymore. Because of this, additional coverage is essential while your kids are still at home.

5. Bring peace of mind

We live in this world unaware when we’ll pass away. It may not be today, but it can be tomorrow, next week, next year, or even 20 years from now; there’s one thing we are really sure about, it will eventually happen. It may be true that no amount can replace a life of a person, but let’s be practical. Having insurance gives you a peace of mind that no matter what happens; you can actually leave your loved ones something that can
help them move on with their lives.

Those are the 5 reasons why you need to get insurance. So what are you waiting for? Buy your Life Insurance now, before it’s too late.

Being ‘too educated’ about insurance could lead to ‘overconsumption’: Experts

31 May 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

According to health experts, such cases do happen in the private healthcare sector. “Insurance sometimes creates the so-called moral hazard of overconsumption,” said healthcare economist, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s Associate Professor Phua Kai Hong.

“That is a worldwide phenomenon and I don’t think Singapore is any different. So the moment you bring in private insurance to complement or supplement, you have to be very clear about what the rules are.”

Dr Sabnis added: “There will be a few guys who will definitely bend the rules, you can’t prevent that. Private hospitals, if I may say, also look at what value the person will bring per day.”

Insurers have noticed the trend and they say overconsumption of health insurance could make premiums rise more quickly than they already have due to medical inflation.

Said Mr Seah: “Maybe a ‘commonsensical’ approach to this would be: ‘If I have to pay out of my pocket, instead of through insurance, would I still need that treatment, and secondly, would I still be looking for that specialist treatment?'”

The key in this entire equation, the LIA said, is “sustainability”, which is why it wants to collaborate with the Government and healthcare providers, such as doctors and healthcare institutions, on how best to achieve this. It will also have to convince consumers who are, after all, paying customers.

“We have been paying insurance premiums,” said “Andrew”. “All these years when nothing happens, we don’t claim. And when the time comes, we want to be compensated properly. We feel that since we’ve been paying the premiums, then make use of it.”

If overconsumption becomes a bigger problem, there are concerns that insurers may lobby for Medisave limits to be raised so people can cope with rising premiums. Healthcare economists added that would eat into a fund meant for pressing medical expenses and there have to be tighter regulations to clamp down on excessive claims.

By John Leong

See full story at www.channelnewsasia.com

Singapore Lists 50 Largest Insurance Companies in 2015

3 May 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user reynermedia

Pricing remains ‘acutely weak’ in Singapore’s insurance market.

The fundamental growth story for Singapore’s insurance sector continues to be intact, as the savings rate rises and dependency ratio remains low. Its status as a regional centre for economic activity also continues to bolster demand for insurance across segments. “Singapore continued to build its position as a regional hub for property and casualty insurance and reinsurance,” says Peter Allen, global head of Grant Thornton’s insurance practice.

As firms aggressively try to deploy excess capital, undercutting is a natural consequence as customers often cannot be acquired fast enough to meet the supply being brought to market.

Derry Finkeldey, director of research at technology research firm, Gartner, notes that “distribution, and leveraging digital channels and capabilities to drive new business, but also to create stickiness with existing customers and increase persistency and renewals, continues to be a top of mind concern for Singaporean insurers”.

Innovative Ways

Given that this is quite a mature market in Singapore, firms are continuing to look for new ways to approach marketing campaigns as well as increase spending in innovative technology solutions according to Finkeldey.

“Insurers are slowly embracing digital channels for improving service quality. We are expecting a lot of activity around digital in 2016” says Ernst & Young advisory partner Sumit Narayanan. He notes that we are seeing an increase in insurers looking to find ways to communicate with their customers beyond the traditional points of contact, which are transactions such as premium payments and claims settlements.

by Krisana Gallezo-Estaura

See Full Story at sbr.com

Singapore firms expected to seek cyber insurance according to AIG

28 April 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user GotCredIt

Singapore’s cyber insurance market is expected to expand 50 percent this year, with finance and healthcare among the top sectors, according to AIG Asia-Pacific Insurance.

Singapore’s cyber insurance industry is expected to expand by 50 percent this year, with healthcare and finance among the top growing sectors.

Demand would be fuelled by businesses looking to mitigate potential damage from cybersecurity breaches on reputation and finances, said AIG Asia-Pacific Insurance, which based its findings on research conducted at the company’s corporate governance events in late-2014. Respondents included CFOs, risk managers, and general counsel from public-listed companies, said the financial services provider.

It added that Singapore’s goal to become a smart nationwould further increase interconnectivity and automation across the nation, hence, drive threats of cyberattacks and corporate sabotage.

AIG Singapore’s head of financial lines, Lai Yen Yen, said: “While cyberattacks grow in size, volume, and sophistication, defensive methods and technologies have not seen a corresponding evolution, potentially costing businesses millions in the event of a cyber breach.”

Market demand was forecast to come from the finance and technology sectors as well as healthcare, with security risks coming from the lack of data encryption, increased malware, and outsourcing to third-party vendors.

Research further revealed that while two-thirds of public-listed companies in Asia said cyber insurance was increasingly important, just 9 percent had such coverage, according to AIG.

by Eileen Yu

See Full Story at zdnet.com

Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance