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Health Insurance: Tips to Choose a Policy for Your Child

29 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Choose a suitable health insurance policy to cover your child’s needs and manage rising medical costs

Getting adequate and comprehensive health insurance for your child is your best bet to hedge against increasing medical costs, according to Ms Wendy Soong, an executive financial consultant with NTUC Income. She suggests considering the following points before shopping for a policy.

Tips to choose a health insurance policy for your child

Assess your current financial and medical situation

Medisave funds can be used to pay the annual premiums of basic health insurance or the government-approved Integrated Shield Plans only. All other insurance plans must be paid in cash.

How much you pay depends on your child’s age, the age of both parents, the sum assured, and the payment terms and period. How much insurance to buy depends on your desired lifestyle, expectations, affordability and objectives.

Review your family’s medical history. If there is a strong history of cancer, it is better to buy medical insurance for a child when he is as young as possible to lock in his insurability and serve as a back-up.

Choose your insurance plan and hospital ward class wisely

If you choose a plan that only allows your child to stay in a Class B ward but you upgrade him to a Class A ward, your bill will be subjected to proration and you’ll need to pay a higher deductible.

However, if you take a higher plan but downgrade hospital wards, some Integrated Shield Plans even offer you a cash benefit in return.

Lock in your insurability

If your child has no pre-existing health conditions, he will not face any insurability issues. But if he unexpectedly develops a condition during his growing years, that medical history will follow him for the rest of his life, making it difficult for him to get life insurance with critical illness coverage in future. If he needs surgery, hospitalisation bills can eat into your savings. So, it is essential to start with comprehensive insurance coverage while children are young and not leave it to chance.

It is best to buy medical insurance for children about a month after they are born, once the birth certificate is obtained. This locks in their insurability while they are healthy.

By: Stella Thng

See full story at www.healthxchange.com.sg

Should You Buy These 5 Common Insurance Plans?

27 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

5commoninsuranceplans

Death and Total Permanent Disability Insurance

A policy that pays out a large sum when you die or are severely and permanently disabled.

High Priority: If you have dependents (for example, a spouse, children or parents). “This type of policy is especially important if you are the sole provider in your family,” suggests Joy Chia, an associate financial consultant with Harold Ng & Associates. “The payout from this policy will provide for them if something happens to you.”

Low Priority: If you’re single and have no dependents. You may not need to be insured for death, but buy a policy that covers you for disability.

Disability Income Insurance

A policy that compensates you for your loss of income due to illness or injury.

High Priority: If you’re a professional with a specialised and high-income job (such as medical professionals). “As this type of insurance is one of the most expensive, you should make your decision based on how much you earn and the likelihood that you’ll lose your income due to illness or injury,” advises Ahmad Faris, associate manager with Manulife Singapore.

Low Priority: If your income is below $2,000, or if you have less money to dedicate to monthly premium payments.

Accident Insurance Plan

A policy that pays out if you are injured in an accident.

High Priority: If you’re in your 20s and at the beginning of your career. “Accident plans are also a great first step towards becoming insured,” advises Chia, “as the premiums are low and they cover accidents, which can happen to anyone at anytime.”

Getting it as a separate policy, and not as a rider (a provision that is added onto the main policy) on a life policy, is usually more economical.

Low Priority: If you’re already adequately covered by your company’s accident policy.

See full story at www.menshealth.com.sg

Tips on buying health insurance when starting a family in Singapore

22 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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So you’re thinking about starting a family. That’s excellent! Getting married and having children are big steps in life, but ones that can lead to great happiness and fulfillment. Studies have even shown that married people live longer and are more content in general, and that couples with children live longer as well.

However, the decision to have children should not be taken lightly. It’s important that a couple is prepared in order to raise a child properly. All the visits to the pediatrician and hospital each year can cause medical bills to stack up, especially in conjunction with other medical costs incurred by parents. Having quality private medical insurance for your family can offset a good portion of such fees.

While it’s true that Medisave and other programs have been successful in making sure that most of the population is prepared for inevitable healthcare costs, the treatments for which Medisave funds can be used are mostly focused on inpatient treatments, thus expensive outpatient procedures can be costly to patients. Additionally, people with larger incomes have more money to spend under the current Medisave structure. Finally, as with many other government-run healthcare systems, caps and policy restrictions on the use of Medisave funds often increase the amount that Singaporeans spend out of pocket for medical care.

The firsts step in getting quality health insurance for a new family is making sure that the breadwinners in the household are covered. Whether this be you, your spouse or both, it’s not going to do anyone in the family any good if the person who’s bringing home the bacon isn’t able to work, and an insurance plan that includes personal accident protection is always a good idea.

Before a mother-to-be gets pregnant, it is advisable to obtain maternity insurance. Due to waiting periods that normally come attached to maternity insurance, if significant time isn’t allowed before conception of the child, no benefits will be awarded to the parents. This type of plan can provide benefits for normal delivery or complications of delivery, diagnostic tests and medication, pre and post natal consultations, ambulance, accommodations, medically necessary termination, coverage for newborn children and congenital conditions or abnormalities.

See full story at www.expatliving.sg

4 tips on saving your Car Insurance Costs in Singapore

20 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

Car Insurance

If left unchecked the costs of getting car insurance in Singapore can get quite expensive, and with coverage rates constantly rising as time goes on, it seems that prices won’t be getting any cheaper anytime soon.

With auto insurance being mandatory in Singapore, having a vehicle at all may seem like an unreasonably expensive goal to some.

Fortunately, there are workarounds to these price tags that can help us get cheap car insurance. Let’s have a look at some of the most common ways to lower your car insurance costs in Singapore.

Drive safely

First and foremost, drive safely. This may sound like a no-brainer; however, we can’t overstate how important this tip actually is. Driving safely can seriously cut down on most of the motor insurance premium.

By actively avoiding accidents, not only are you going to get better rates thanks to a clean driving record, as well as save on the excess fees typically charged when filing a claim, but you’ll also save big by becoming eligible to a variety of discounts.

For instance, by having a claim free record with your insurance company, you are entitled to a No Claims Discount of 10% for every year with no claim on your insurer, up to a maximum of 50% for the full 5 years of holding a good record.

Additionally, if you haven’t had any accidents in the past 3 years, Traffic Police of Singapore will award you with a Certificate of Merit, which translates into a 5% Safe Driver’s discount on the premium.

Just by taking into account these two basic discounts, you can easily save thousands on insurance premiums every year, not to mention your potential savings earned by not raising your insurance rate with an accident.

Skip coverage that you don’t need

Obviously, if you’re driving a luxury vehicle or an expensive sports car, you might not want to skip on comprehensive collision coverage, since getting in an accident could potentially cost thousands on repair bills (or much more if you have to replace the totalled vehicle).

However, if your vehicle is old and expendable, or if you’re simply planning on buying a new car sometime soon, getting more basic third party only coverage may be one of your best bets to getting cheap car insurance rates.

For example, if you bought a second hand 2002 Kia for $5,500, getting third party coverage for $800 may sound a lot better than getting a $2,800 plan, despite the latter being for full coverage, since the price of the premium could easily end up overshadowing the car’s face value.

Also, keep in mind that some additional services and options such as unlimited windscreen coverage and freedom of choice when it comes to repair shops might be end up being an unnecessary luxury that you could easily skip for cheaper options.

Keep your vehicle mod free

Modifying your vehicle in any way is usually a big no-no when comes to car insurance. Although some insurers might overlook LTA approved mods, others might be quick to judge, setting more expensive rates for you vehicle. So, before even considering the option, always ask us first.

See full story at www.hlas.com.sg

Putting the D in Direct: Singapore’s New Direct Insurer

15 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

Insurance has long been considered dry, convoluted, and none too user-friendly.

It has been that way for decades, until recently, when a new composite insurer called FWD Singapore entered the market.

Branding itself as “Singapore’s New Direct Insurer”, FWD Singapore wants to “change the way Singapore feels about Insurance”, by making use of technology to provide fast and direct service.

It pledges to provide Insurance products that are well-priced and easy to understand.

Can they actually pull it off, injecting new life into an industry (in)famous for its reluctance to reinvent itself?

Let’s pop the hood and find out.

FWD, who art thou?

Spot the main character

We did a bit of snooping around their website and quote this verbatim:

FWD Group is the insurance business arm of investment group, Pacific Century Group with minority shareholder, Swiss Re. Pacific Century Group (PCG) is an Asia-based private investment group established in 1993.

Ok – we shall agree to internalize it like this: FWD Group is owned by folks who have deep insurance expertise and understand Asia well. Oh, not to mention they have pretty deep pockets. (Always nice)

FWD Singapore is part of the FWD Group.

By Clearly

See full story at www.clearlysurely.com

The new, scary face of auto insurance

13 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Technology in the mobility space has made travel safer, faster and more convenient. The results have been incredible: The Insurance Information Institute found a 33 percent decrease in automobile deaths in the past three years. The same survey found that nine models registered zero fatalities per vehicle per million. Mobility has also become more accessible with ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft delivering more than one million rides a day in more than 60 countries.

Despite the upside, there are consequences to innovation. On May 7th of this year, a Tesla owner died while using the Autopilot feature. His vehicle crashed into a truck after his Tesla failed to differentiate the white color of the truck against the backdrop of the sky. This event may change the narrative and public appeal for autonomous driving. It puts into perspective how close the future actually is and whether or not society will fully embrace it.

Autonomous driving promises to decrease the automobile death toll. Last year there were 35,000 automotive-related deaths, accounting for .01 percent of the U.S. population. While it may not seem like a high number, those deaths are the result of people, not an algorithm that holds a passenger’s life within its source code. This brings us to question the liability programmers and the code they write be given the power to determine life and death for consumers who buy their cars. And ultimately, who is liable in the case of an accident or even death?

The next critical step is the proliferation of autonomous driving and the task of safely embedding its utility within the framework of our society. With these issues in mind, private companies and governmental agencies are taking appropriate steps to address them. Google has been testing and building a fleet of self-driving cars that have completed 1.5 million miles of road tests.

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved vehicle-to-vehicle technology that enabled vehicles to “talk” to one another and can help prevent human errors that often lead to collision. And this March, General Motors acquired a startup called Cruise Automation for $1 billion. GM was already on pace to launch a highway-oriented, smart cruise control system in its Cadillac CT6 line. Technological and governmental infrastructure for autonomous vehicles is well on its way to maturity.

By Kevin Wang

See full story at techcrunch.com

7 surprising things that impact how much you pay for car insurance

8 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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When searching for an auto insurance policy, there are things we expect will impact our rates: demographic details like age, home address, even credit score. But in the world of car insurance, there are still surprises, believe it or not. Below, you’ll find the top seven most surprising things that can impact your car insurance rates, taken straight from a comprehensive research report on the state of the auto insurance industry compiled by The Zebra.

1. Your history of car insurance — or lack thereof — can mean big-dollar differences on your rate

If you’ve had a long history of insurance coverage, and if you’ve chosen policies with better coverage, you’ll pay less for your auto insurance. For example, in the case that you cause a collision that results in injury to another person, but you have higher coverage limits, that leads insurance companies to believe that you’re a more responsible person than someone else with a history of choosing the lowest possible coverage.

So what level of coverage do you need in order to see savings? The Zebra’s research shows that people with a five-year history of carrying $100,000 of bodily injury coverage per person and $300,000 per collision (often designated as “BI 100/300” in insurance documents) can expect to pay an average of $184 less a year for the same new insurance policy as someone with no history of insurance coverage.

Further, if you have any lapse in auto insurance coverage (even a few days), that can also cost you big time, as it indicates high-risk behavior to insurers.

Note: The only exception is for residents of California, which is the only state that doesn’t consider insurance history when determining average annual auto insurance premiums.

2. Insurance companies care why you drive

Do you drive solely to get to and from work? Do you use your car for business or to haul stuff around your farm? When you apply for your car insurance policy, the agent will ask how you use your vehicle, and your answer could have a big impact on your insurance rate. The Zebra found that prices can vary up to 18% depending on how a person uses their vehicle, even when every other detail stays the same.

People who use their vehicles on a farm will pay the least, while those who use their cars for business will pay the most for car insurance — up to $227 more each year. You can’t lie about what you use your car for, lest you risk a canceled policy, but you can make sure you tell the agent how you use your car when shopping for a policy to ensure you get the best rate (especially if you’re insuring a farm vehicle!).

By Julia

See full story at www.marketwatch.com

Read This Before You Buy Travel Insurance

6 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

Travelers walk past a poster with information about the Zika virus during a campaign by Peru's Health Ministry at Plaza Norte bus station in Lima, Peru, February 4, 2016. — Travelers walk past a poster with information about the Zika virus during a campaign by Peru’s Health Ministry at Plaza Norte bus station in Lima, Peru, February 4, 2016.

With fears about Zika outbreaks and terrorist incidents on every traveler’s mind, you may be wondering if you should consider buying travel insurance for your next trip.

Before you decide, here’s what you need to know about the options, what you can expect to pay, and what will—and won’t—be covered.

What does travel insurance cover? Ideally, travel insurance will reimburse most (no, not all—we’ll address that below) of your expenses if you or a traveling companion has an illness or injury that prevents you from taking a scheduled trip, if circumstances beyond your control make it impossible for you to take your trip, or if you get sick while traveling.

The key here is understanding the fine print, says Damian Tysdal, founder of TravelInsuranceReview.net. “Travel insurance is a ‘named peril’ insurance policy, in that it specifically states what is covered,” he explains. So if an event or calamity isn’t spelled out in the policy, don’t expect to be covered if it occurs.

For instance, just because your insurance reimburses you if you get sick before your trip and can’t go, don’t assume you’re also covered if you fall ill while you’re traveling, especially if you’re overseas. That’s a different type of coverage, and while insurers may bundle them into packages to make it easier for travelers, it’s not a given that any policy you buy will include both.

What doesn’t it cover? See above—anything not spelled out in the policy falls outside the scope of coverage. Assuming otherwise is a prescription for frustration. Speaking of prescriptions, pre-existing medical conditions are generally excluded, although policies have different stipulations about what qualifies as “pre-existing.” A medical issue you had several years ago that hasn’t resurfaced, for example, might not be considered pre-existing. But, as with other specifics, your particular policy will spell out the length of time your insurance company can “look back” into your medical history.

By Martha C. White

See full story at time.com

5 Simple Steps That Will Tell You How Much You Need To Budget For Insurance

1 September 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

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Income & Budget vs. Insurance Expenditure – Prioritising What’s Important

A big question most Singaporeans have about insurance is this – how much insurance should I have?

To answer this question you need to look at your budget first. Because without factoring your income and expenses to find out how much you can save each month you won’t know what insurance options are available to you (or what expenses you need to cut to make sure you’ve got enough coverage).

Let’s look at how a financial planner would review your situation:

Step #1 Determine Your Priorities

Your financial planner will want to know your financial goals such as retirement, saving for a house, etc.

If you’re saving up to buy a 55’ HD TV, a 2014 BMW 316i and a down payment for a new home, your financial advisor will probably tell you that your home purchase is the financial goal you should prioritise.

For example:

If your financial goal is to save up $50,000 for the down payment to purchase a home and you currently have $10,000 saved up – your financial planner will work with you to come up with a financial plan that’ll help you come up with the other $40,000.

Step #2 Determine Your Current Financial Position

From your answers, your financial planner will review your existing insurance policies and assets to identify any existing “gaps” in your financial plan.

For example:

A father of two only has $50,000 in insurance coverage, which is grossly insufficient if he were to pass away.

Assuming that the father’s average household spending is $1,500 a month, this $50,000 death benefit would only last his family for 33 months!

That’s why your financial planner will help you identify such financial gaps so you can make budget adjustments that free up the cash to fix them.

Step #3 Analyse and Identify Areas for Improvement

From your financial goal(s), your financial planner will help determine different ways for you to reach your goals within your given timeframe.

Your financial planner will help you do a “cashflow analysis” to break down your expenses to look for areas that you can cut down on so you can free up more cash for insurance.

By Jeff Cuellar

See full story at blog.moneysmart.sg

How To Do This One Important Thing Very Few Singaporeans Are Doing For Their Insurance Policies

30 August 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

Insurance Policies

In theory, your insurance agent is supposed to check on you every six months. Unless you have an agent like mine. “Why, is she careless?” Nah. She stopped calling because I used every meeting to describe diseases I think I have. They typically feature words like “oozing” and “pustule”, and I have pictures from medical books. That I show her over lunch. But anyway, it’s a good idea to set up your own insurance reviews and actually figure out where you’re at. Here’s how:

Step 1: Set a Review Date

Set a review date for your insurance policies. This is usually done every three to five years. Any earlier, and you might not want to switch policies anyway (you might forfeit some returns).

Most insurance agents call every six months anyway, which makes them a perfect reminder system. When you talk to yours, make it a habit to end with this question:

“By the way, when was the last time we looked over my payouts, coverage, etc.?”

If it’s been five years or more, consider making an appointment. You’ll want them to walk you through the benefits, returns, conditions, etc. again. Because in a short while, you’ll be shopping around and seeing how it compares to current policies.

Step 2: Understand How Much Your Policy Costs

Quick, without checking: How much in commissions (approximately) are you paying the agent? How about the insurance company itself?

You can find these in the benefits illustration. That’s the reel of numbers the insurance agent gave you, donkey’s years ago when she cornered you in Burger King. There are five main columns to look at:

Annualised Premium – How much you pay in premiums every year.

Total Premiums – The total you’ve paid so far, in premiums

Total Distribution Cost – Most of this money is given to the agent, as commissions.

Non-Guaranteed Surrender Value – This is the big payout you’ll get, when you surrender the policy. It’s guesswork, as the term “non-guaranteed” implies. You may be getting a lot less than what’s stated here.

By Ryan Ong