Monday, July 26, 2010
Life insurance plans
Are you confused with the different types of life insurance plans in the market? Do you know the different between a whole life, endowment, term insurance, critical illness and investment linked plan. Go to www.tankinlian.com, click on "Ask Mr Tan" and search for "life insurance". Click on "View" to read the document.
Best Self-Help Book
Strategy on e-government services
I have written a strategy paper on how a government agency can organize its website and online processes to improve its productivity and deliver a better quality of service for the public. Read the paper entitled "e-Government" in my website, www.tankinlian.com
If you have experienced inconvenience or difficulty in searching for information or submitting an application to a government agency in the past, please send your story to kinlian@gmail.com or post a comment here.
If you have experienced inconvenience or difficulty in searching for information or submitting an application to a government agency in the past, please send your story to kinlian@gmail.com or post a comment here.
TKL website [8]
Dear Mr Tan,
I got to know of the site through your blog which I read almost everyday.
I take interest in the site as I like to keep in touch with the different views of the current events happening around us.
Your layout is easy to access and worded simply in such a way that any layman will be able to understand the language used and the icons used are simple to focus.
Thank-you for creating a simple and versatile site for us to access and be educated.
RK
I got to know of the site through your blog which I read almost everyday.
I take interest in the site as I like to keep in touch with the different views of the current events happening around us.
Your layout is easy to access and worded simply in such a way that any layman will be able to understand the language used and the icons used are simple to focus.
Thank-you for creating a simple and versatile site for us to access and be educated.
RK
Efforts to control motor insurance claims
Three years ago, the General Insurance Association, representing the general insurance companies, announced several measures under the the Motor Claims Framework, as an attempt to control claims. I felt at that time that the measures were not practical and did not address the root of the problem. The regulator gave its support for the framework. The insurance leaders proclaimed that the measures would be effective in controlling the fraudulent claims and lower the insurance premiums.
It was a pipe dream. The measures actually caused the claims to escalate badly. The premium rates increased by 30% during the next two years. There is a big difference between declaration of intent and producing the actual results.
Two years later, the Consumer Association (CASE) formed a joint task force with the insurance association. They approached the problem more holistically. The task force was lead by the president of CASE who was supposed to have the political clout. The joint task force identified the problems and recommended the remedial actions. This time round, it appeared that the measures would be more effective.
I read a news report recently, quoting the president of CASE, that seemed to hint of slow progress in stopping the escalation of claims. Are the measures recommended by the joint task force ineffective?
Over the years, we hear of countless cases of fraudulent motor claims involving aggravated damages, inflated repair bills, and claims for non-existent injuries. Complaints about fraud were not acted by the police. The insurance companies were supposed to deal with the fraud by rejecting the claims, but they need evidence to justify their rejection. With time, the insurance companies found that it was easier to pay off the fraudulent claims rather than to incur the expense of investigating these claims.
Fraud has to be controlled by legislation and enforcement. It cannot be handled by expensive litigation through the courts. The parties that benefited from this unsatisfactory state of affairs are the lawyers, who have the opportunity to earn large fees from litigation work. Someone pointed out that a few members of our parliament or their immediate family members are involved in law firms. Could this be a reason for their reluctance to address this issue of public interest?
In the absence of effective action, the consumers have to pay the price through higher insurance premuims.
Tan Kin Lian
It was a pipe dream. The measures actually caused the claims to escalate badly. The premium rates increased by 30% during the next two years. There is a big difference between declaration of intent and producing the actual results.
Two years later, the Consumer Association (CASE) formed a joint task force with the insurance association. They approached the problem more holistically. The task force was lead by the president of CASE who was supposed to have the political clout. The joint task force identified the problems and recommended the remedial actions. This time round, it appeared that the measures would be more effective.
I read a news report recently, quoting the president of CASE, that seemed to hint of slow progress in stopping the escalation of claims. Are the measures recommended by the joint task force ineffective?
Over the years, we hear of countless cases of fraudulent motor claims involving aggravated damages, inflated repair bills, and claims for non-existent injuries. Complaints about fraud were not acted by the police. The insurance companies were supposed to deal with the fraud by rejecting the claims, but they need evidence to justify their rejection. With time, the insurance companies found that it was easier to pay off the fraudulent claims rather than to incur the expense of investigating these claims.
Fraud has to be controlled by legislation and enforcement. It cannot be handled by expensive litigation through the courts. The parties that benefited from this unsatisfactory state of affairs are the lawyers, who have the opportunity to earn large fees from litigation work. Someone pointed out that a few members of our parliament or their immediate family members are involved in law firms. Could this be a reason for their reluctance to address this issue of public interest?
In the absence of effective action, the consumers have to pay the price through higher insurance premuims.
Tan Kin Lian
DBS Preference Shares
Dear Mr. Tan,
DBS pref share is trading around 104 on par of 100.
It pays 6 a year on par of 100.
Please note that it is callable at 100 on 15 May 2011. If you buy at 104, you will have make a loss of 4 on capital (and gain 6 as dividend). You will get 3 on 15 Nov, and the other 3 on 15 May 2011 (together with 100).
If DBS decides not to call back the share, it will then start to pay dividend based on 3 mth Swap rates plus 2.28%. current swap rates is probably around 0.5%. without any big surprise, Swap rate will be around same level next May. this means that if DBS does not call back the share, it will be paying investors about 2.8% in dividend.
cm
My view
With this additional information, DBS preference shares is not attractive as an investment.
Financial Sense
Hi Mr. Tan
Here's the financial website which I find to be very educational for people like me with no financial backgrounds.
http://www.financialsense.com/
Here is the link for their weekly podcast which I personally find it very useful.http://www.financialsense.com/
YP
Here's the financial website which I find to be very educational for people like me with no financial backgrounds.
http://www.financialsense.com/
Here is the link for their weekly podcast which I personally find it very useful.http://www.financialsense.com/
YP
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