Saturday, June 26, 2010

SAF group insurance (term and critical illness)

Many consumers have difficulty in getting an attractive rate for term insurance and critical illness cover. Some insurance agents quote a high premium rate for term insurance (more than 5 times of the actual cost) and then try to convince the customer to buy a high cost policy which pays an attractive commission to the agent. The high cost policy includes the investment-linked plan (ILP) and the limited payment policy (i.e. covers whole of life with premium payable for 20 years).

Consumers can refer to the SAF group insurance policy (term insruance and critical illness cover) to get a benchmark for the premium rate for these covers. You can refer to the documents uploaded here: http://www.easysearch.sg/Links.aspx?CatID=11

If you are eligible, you can join the SAF group insurance scheme. For example, you pay a monthly premium of $38.40 to get term insurance up to age 65 of $300,000. You pay $10 a month to get critical illness cover for $100,000 up to age 45. (You do not need to insure more than $100,000 or beyond age 45).

If you are not eligible, you can use the premium rate as the benchmark for what you need to pay for your individual cover. You may have to pay a higher rate, but it should be within 30% of the SAF rate. If it is higher, the policy is too expensive and should be avoided.

Tan Kin Lian

Read Practical Guide on Financial Planning