Where would you find information if you want to purchase a life insurance in Singapore?
If you type “life insurance” in Google, you will likely be overwhelmed by the offers. That is why MAS “forced” all life insurance companies to jointly set up a portal called CompareFirst last year. They think by giving the consumer a portal to compare products, they can make a better decision and even go to buy insurance directly.
So now every insurer has a new class of insurance called Direct Purchase Insurance (DPI), known as “simple life insurance products” which is sold without commissions and financial advice.
How much were direct insurance products sold last year?
Based on the report from a recent Straits Times article, DPI products drew S$550,000 in weighted new premiums, with the lion’s share coming from term life plans.
That means if you were to consider $600 average premium for term life insurance, less than 1,000 such policies were purchased in the whole Singapore.
Why? We all suffer “information overload” when we want to make financial decisions. Simple life insurance products are not so simple after all.
A life insurance comparison system can do a reasonable job for term life insurance, but will give ridiculous information for other products, especially whole life insurance with “multiplier”.
It took me a while to find out a good website for life insurance, and that is ClearlySurely.com. Not only you can compare life insurance in this website, you will find useful information and discussions about how to choose the right life insurance for yourself. I have no vested interest in this company, but I strongly recommend you to take a look.
There are three areas of the website which you will find useful:
- Learn: about life insurance, the basics, and the different plans out there
- Compare: life insurance product offers in Singapore (something like comparefirst.sg, but better)
- Discuss: post questions about insurance, find objective advice from not only insurance agents but your peers
Learn life insurance
If you want to know more about life insurance, The educational materials on the website can make your life much easier. It covers topics such as
- What is Life Insurance
- Types of cover
- Types of Insurance
- What insurance should I buy
The blog of ClearlySurely has 3 to 4 articles every week. Unlikely most other portals which have hidden agenda to push particular products to you, I find their articles are generally unbiased and neutral.
Compare life insurance
The website can compare nearly all life insurance products just like CompareFirst, but what is unique here is that ClearlySurely offers a Star Rating system.
Insurance plans can sometimes be quite complicated to compare. The star rating system will make it easier for you. The higher the star rating, the more benefit you are getting on a “per dollar basis” on the following criteria:
- Term Plans –Â Highest amount of cover given
- Whole Life Plans –Â Highest amount of death benefit (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed portions) provided at the 30th policy anniversary
- Endowment Plans –Â Highest amount of maturity benefit (both guaranteed and non-guaranteed portions)
- Mortgage Insurance –Â Highest Sum Assured given
While this may seem to be overly simplified, but it is a good start.
Discuss life insurance
How about discussing with your peers about insurance in the forum of ClearlySurely? Sometimes you can find out things which your insurance advisers are forbidden or unwilling to talk about.
I always thought the forum discussion is dead in Singapore, not to mention it is a forum about insurance matters (a.k.a. boring…). But seems the forum is relatively active and there are quality discussions.
Now is your turn…
Have you found any other good life insurance education and comparison websites? Share with us by commenting below.