Which insurance policy is good?

[sophie_q]

Am thinking of getting myself, and my siblings insurance policy, especially for illness and hospitalisation. There's plenty in the market, and sometimes we hear horror stories that the person's coverage does not include this and that... sometimes the agent does not tell you the whole story and consumer assume it will be covered, but when matters arises, it is not...

There are too many insurance agents who are "dying" to sell to us, therefore
I prefer advice from policy holders and the experience they had from getting the claims from the policy they have.

[birdy]

Almost all insurance are more or less the same, with probably one has slightly better than the other in a particular protection whilst less in another coverage.

It all goes to what you need and required. You have to pay more for a better or complete protection. If you want a good insurance... it is not advisable to get those medical card offered by some less prominent companies. Try to go for a proper insurance such as Prudential, AIA, etc..

[kokomo]

I hold an ING medical card which is good so far. And I think GE (Great Eastern) has just launched their new medical card as well which is as good as ING. Pricing wise, no need to say these 2 co. are quite comparable. It has to be lesser of hassle in times of trouble or emergency (like no paper documentation needed to fill before admitting or trouble of calling your insurance co. to confirm and then fax over a form to fill).

Good luck!

[maxima]

Let's start our discussion here about all kind of insurance including SOCSO and SSPN, ok ?

[Plantronic]

kokomo how much u paying for your medical card ? i planning to have it too. i have no insurance coverage at all
:D

[kazafivy]

Hey guys, i just recently bought my insurance from Allianz. Very good deal. The first that i personally bought myself. It's more than the normal insurance, this is more like a saving account. I'm saving RM150 a month and enjoying protection up to RM1 mil. Beat that. How bout the ING or GE that you guys bought? Mind to share?

[rakyat]

Hey guys, i just recently bought my insurance from Allianz. Very good deal. The first that i personally bought myself. It's more than the normal insurance, this is more like a saving account. I'm saving RM150 a month and enjoying protection up to RM1 mil. Beat that. How bout the ING or GE that you guys bought? Mind to share?

I think u r talking bout mayb a Accident policy or a term life while this tread is soliciting feedback on medical coverage....

Medical insurance best to buy one from a life co. as oppose to an annnual policy from a general insurer.

Advantages: fixed premium and guaranteed renewal without adjustment of premium even with confirmed illnesses.

Disadvantage is if you are already very matured, the entry premium will be very high; you need to buy at least a whole life or term life policy b/4 you can attach the medical coveragem, lifetime limit that is not replenishable.

For those young ppl. shopping for a life policy, do look at the medical riders which is more likely to incur a claim rather than the returns after 20 yrs which are not guaranteed!!!

[rakyat]

Am thinking of getting myself, and my siblings insurance policy, especially for illness and hospitalisation. There's plenty in the market, and sometimes we hear horror stories that the person's coverage does not include this and that... sometimes the agent does not tell you the whole story and consumer assume it will be covered, but when matters arises, it is not...

There are too many insurance agents who are "dying" to sell to us, therefore
I prefer advice from policy holders and the experience they had from getting the claims from the policy they have.

Agents are ppl (most of the time w/o proper qualification) trying to sell u something for a commission. They are not held liable for misrepresentation hence it is advisable to go thru the brochures or if you want to be extra careful, read the policy wordings.

After all what you are buying is a legal contract with an insurance co. The agent does not play a role in the contract and is just there to 'facilitate the buying process' and reap huge commission (35%?) :D

[maxima]

I bought an Allianz medical card policy (500K max) which also covers PA 80k, Life 80K, 36 Ci 80k. monthly Rm100. Since no other insurance agent can counter offer that policy, I presume it is one of the best in the market.


after reading about Sentinel's "we are no.1" thread, I have almost decided to discard my 36 CI policy..

can someone who has experience on insurance claiming feeds back about the pros and cons so that we can learn about the truth ?

[rakyat]

Depending on your age, but RM1,200 for RM80k life & critical coverage is very reasonable. I'm sure its a term insurance i.e. u don't get a maturity date or any returns.

Do not cancel ur Critical illness cover unless its an annual policy i.e. premium changes as u age.... Critical illness is an age band product hence it will get more expensive if you buy it later in life. If you buy from a Life insurer, the premium will be based on entry age and will not change as u age. If you buy from a General insurer and policy expires every year, then premium will change upwards every 5 years.

If you talk about PA (accidental death) then u r better off buying from a General co. coz they underwrite based on accident statistics of the country while Life co. writes on Mortality Table which is more expensive. General co. oso gives u renewal bonus to encourage renewals while life co. are not bothered. Its just the different way both businesses are run. One is an expert in long term life coverage the other is on short term accident policies

As for Allianz is the best...... For ppl in the industry, ING offers the 'best' medical coverage coz they are the pioneer in offering 'clinical' coverage but don't expect it to be cheap! :D Other insurer do not offer 'clinical' cover although I'm sure some foolhardy local co. will imitate and get burnt in the process. For Life co. actually Pru offered a 'superior product' as they were the pioneer in investment linked product b/4 every other co. followed suit. Life co. used to only offer a guaranteed 3% to 8% compounding returns no matter what market scenerio. Pru came up with unit trust pegged to a life policy during the good times and offered fantastic returns.....

IMHO I prefer the traditional guaranteed returns as it will not be pegged to the performance of the share market; simply b'coz if I wanted share market performance, I' ll invest in unit trust. What I 'd look for in a Life insurance is a guaranteed $$$ when my policy matures or if 'something' happens to me. Imagine if the share market spins out of control (downwards) & my 15 yrs old policy matures..... :eek:

[vaw]

Hi all,

I would appreciate if anyone advise me in regards to Axa Smartcare Optimum (medical card) or alternatively suggest me another insurer for medical card.

Thanks

[rakyat]

Hi all,

I would appreciate if anyone advise me in regards to Axa Smartcare Optimum (medical card) or alternatively suggest me another insurer for medical card.

Thanks

How old r u? If u r not too matured, go buy ur self a life policy be it term life or endownment (depending on ur budget & needs) then add a H&S rider to it... u get better value : guaranteed renewaland & premium don't increase.

But if you already have a life ins. or too matured to buy (too pricey) then only look at an annual Medical insurance. Annual Medical insurance can be categorized into 2 broad spectrum: Comprehensive vs. Budget. U can buy a cheap but limited coverage & reimbursement basis i.e. u pay then claim back fr ins. co. or comprehensive but expensive & 'cashless' (just touch N' go in panel hospitals, no need to pay)

Approach 2 different agents (1 selling a 'cashless' & another selling reimbursement) to find out the advantages of either type of medical ins. and then decide which is appropriate for you.

[yyhhcc]

I'm ''studying'' on getting a top-up medical coverage too .. Why ''topping-up'' as you may ask.. Coz I'm employed and co. is covering our medical thru a cheapo medical card - low limit and other limitations..So, before illness strikes I need to top-up the medical coverage..

I got to know that some general insurance companies offering medical policy which has this 'deductible' option which is cheaper, and entitles you to almost 50%(based on a tier) deduction on the premium. What 'deductible' does is that you pay the first $xK of your medical bill on your own and claim the remaining from this top-up medical plan. This translates into a scenario whereby you are covered by company, but since the company's coverage is low it won't allow you to claim full amount of the bill..so what you do is submit a certified copy of the bill and claim the balance of the bill from this top-up plan.

Imagin this:
Your company's medical card annual limit is only 30K with maybe 100K lifetime limti, and it comes with maybe 5K for cancer treatment or kidney dialysis pa (mana cukup???) So, when an illness strikes and you are likely to use up the limit, and you won't be able to get another medical card to cover as no one insurance co will cover the illness that you are carrying (exclusion...).

Any comments from the guru2 here?

[kinchow2]

first of all how are you now...
Because med card is based on your age as different age have different price on it..
You can try the AIA one as it cover you up to 100 years old.
you can contact this number 0167255322
looking for mr. lau

[LMei]

Generally all insurance policies are similar. You just need a good and committed agent. I am now with Prudential. My initial agent just sold me one policy and after that was quiet. No news/updates from him. Fortunately I was able to change my account to another agent who is now servicing my whole family. I would recommend her as she does her follow up and help us in our claims when we need it. With all my experiences, I have no regrets having her as my agent and I never had to call the Prudential hotline and listen to that jingle..... PM me if you want her contact.

[rakyat]

I'm ''studying'' on getting a top-up medical coverage too .. Why ''topping-up'' as you may ask.. Coz I'm employed and co. is covering our medical thru a cheapo medical card - low limit and other limitations..So, before illness strikes I need to top-up the medical coverage..

I got to know that some general insurance companies offering medical policy which has this 'deductible' option which is cheaper, and entitles you to almost 50%(based on a tier) deduction on the premium. What 'deductible' does is that you pay the first $xK of your medical bill on your own and claim the remaining from this top-up medical plan. This translates into a scenario whereby you are covered by company, but since the company's coverage is low it won't allow you to claim full amount of the bill..so what you do is submit a certified copy of the bill and claim the balance of the bill from this top-up plan.

Imagin this:
Your company's medical card annual limit is only 30K with maybe 100K lifetime limti, and it comes with maybe 5K for cancer treatment or kidney dialysis pa (mana cukup???) So, when an illness strikes and you are likely to use up the limit, and you won't be able to get another medical card to cover as no one insurance co will cover the illness that you are carrying (exclusion...).

Any comments from the guru2 here?

Don't think you can do it that way.... its not top-up it more likely co-insurance i.e. 80%/20% where insurance co. pays 80% of the claimable bill while the insured pays 20%. You need to double check the wordings if you can claim the 20% co-ins from another insurance policy as it is actually against the basic principle of insurance. Most experience insurer will not allow such 'selection of risk' or 'deductable buy-back' but then you will be surprise how many inexperience insurers there are.........

Your option is to buy another medical insurance (w/o deductible!!!) and use it to claim whatever is o/s from your initial claim.

AIA is known to sell overpriced products and leverage on their AAA+ rating, lately they are rated A- only but did not reduce their pricing.... so whether still worthwhile paying a premier price for a less premier co.

[yyhhcc]

Hi Rakyat, thanks for your feedback.

Firstly, there is no co-insurance in the policy which was bought by my co. to cover me. So no issue on the 80/20 or 10/90 thingy...

I was told, It is applicable in the 100% claimable (as charge) scenario. The "deductable" option is good in such a way that the first few Ks one can claim from the company's, and claim the rest, balance of the bill unclaimable, from this 'top-up' plan. The only thing is questionable is perhaps reliability: i can only find this kinda 'deductible' plans from general insurance co.

[waltzgirl]

Hi, i'm looking for a medical and health insurance policy which most importantly offers good service and is cashless (and is there one which covers treatment at clinics now?). Is the fixed premium thing still applicable for life products?
Is anyone aware of the latest products out there in the market? thanks.

[rakyat]

Good service depends on the agent not the insurance company; there r no insurance co. that offers clinical coverage to individuals; it is only applicable to company/ corporate insurance. It is not an insurance product but just MCO service. Insurance co. collect premium to administer clinical entry and payment.

Medical insurance are mostly aged band these days. Level entry premium for medical products r no longer sustainable.

Products r constantly evolving so only active agents r familiar with current product but insurance companies r like their mgmt - cinaman co. cheap (in pricing but also cheap/ stingy in paying claims) & calculative but negotiable & appreciate loyalty, Whiteman co. expensive but comprehensive & widely accepted, will cut u off or discontinue product if biz is not profitable, takaful - cheapest premium (due to mudarabah) but inefficient and prone to mistakes, still clueless bout principle of insurance, s'pore companies thinks m'sian consumers r 'sheeps for the slaughter' ;)