Dear Mr. Tan,
The premium for my Incomeshield Plus rider has increased from $163 to $276 - an increase of more than 69% for those age group from 41 to 50. This is more than 8 times our GST rate! How can Singaporeans afford a reasonable health insurance with this kind of rate?
NTUC has also have a social mission of providing a reasonable affordable low cost insurance and stablizing food prices.
Is there any body to check on the NTUC insurance for the recent hefty increase in premium! It will definitely affect the middle income family.
REPLY
If you are a member of a trade union, you can write to the secretary general of NTUC to voice your concern. If not, you can write to the chairman of the board of Income. All the best.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Introduce your friends to my blog
A request to regular visitors to my blog.
Send an e-mail to your friends and ask them to visit my blog. The link is www.tankinlian.blogspot.com.
I hope that you will respond to my request now. Your action will be reflected by an immediate increase in the visitors to my blog over the next few days.
Send an e-mail to your friends and ask them to visit my blog. The link is www.tankinlian.blogspot.com.
I hope that you will respond to my request now. Your action will be reflected by an immediate increase in the visitors to my blog over the next few days.
500,000 visitors by 11-11-2008
I projected earlier that my blog will reach 500,000 visitors by 11-11-2008.
I recalculated by projection this morning, i.e. 2-9-2008. I have an average of 1138 visitors a day. The blog now has 419,668 visitors.
My Excel spreadsheet calculated projected that the target will be reached EXACTLY on 11-11-2008. What a coincidence!
I recalculated by projection this morning, i.e. 2-9-2008. I have an average of 1138 visitors a day. The blog now has 419,668 visitors.
My Excel spreadsheet calculated projected that the target will be reached EXACTLY on 11-11-2008. What a coincidence!
Twisting is bad for the customer
Insurance agents are provided with a range of complex products, such as whole life, endowment and investment-linked plans. There are many variations of these products, including the cash back features. Some have guaranteed returns, some have bonuses, and some products have values that are linked to a fund.
It is easy for an agent to confuse a customer to stop an existing insurance policy to buy a new policy. The agent can easily point out a different feature and explain why it is good for the customer. This is not true, but the agent is trained on how to make the customer believe in the statement.
The agent can earn a high commision on the new policy. This commission can take away newly two years of the premium. If the premium is $300 a month, the customer can lose up to $7,200 of premium as charges taken away from the new policy, mainly to pay commission to the agent.
This practice is called "twisting" and is illegal in many countries. It is quite rampant in Singapore. Many consumers are taken for a ride. If you find that an agent has "twisted" your policy, you should lodge a complaint with the insurance company or with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The insurance companies should also be blamed for this bad practice. They introduce new products, which gives the opportunity for the agent to twist the policy of other agents, from the same company or a new company.
How is the customer twisted?
1. If you have a whole life or endowment policy, the agent will tell you that it is better to buy an investment-linked policy by showing the projected returns assuming a high yield
2. If you have an investment-linked policy, the agent will tell you that it has lost money (which it has in the recent market down-turn) and move you back to a whole life or endowment or cash back policy.
Remember: the agent always gains from the high commission when you stop a policy and buy a new policy. This is always done at the expense of the customer.
It is easy for an agent to confuse a customer to stop an existing insurance policy to buy a new policy. The agent can easily point out a different feature and explain why it is good for the customer. This is not true, but the agent is trained on how to make the customer believe in the statement.
The agent can earn a high commision on the new policy. This commission can take away newly two years of the premium. If the premium is $300 a month, the customer can lose up to $7,200 of premium as charges taken away from the new policy, mainly to pay commission to the agent.
This practice is called "twisting" and is illegal in many countries. It is quite rampant in Singapore. Many consumers are taken for a ride. If you find that an agent has "twisted" your policy, you should lodge a complaint with the insurance company or with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The insurance companies should also be blamed for this bad practice. They introduce new products, which gives the opportunity for the agent to twist the policy of other agents, from the same company or a new company.
How is the customer twisted?
1. If you have a whole life or endowment policy, the agent will tell you that it is better to buy an investment-linked policy by showing the projected returns assuming a high yield
2. If you have an investment-linked policy, the agent will tell you that it has lost money (which it has in the recent market down-turn) and move you back to a whole life or endowment or cash back policy.
Remember: the agent always gains from the high commission when you stop a policy and buy a new policy. This is always done at the expense of the customer.
The truth about life insurance
I write this article for Online Citizen a few months ago. It cause a lot of discussion from consumers and insurance agents. For those who missed it, you can read it here:
http://www.tankinlian.com/articles/truth.html
http://www.tankinlian.com/articles/truth.html
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