General Insurance: Which One Suits You Best?
Protection comes in all kinds of forms. Sometimes, we can be protected by the people we love. They fight for us, and they do everything for us. We, humans, are always susceptible to any danger. Even if we are careful, there will always be circumstances that will lead us to problems.
That is why it is essential to get protection not only for your life but also for the assets you’ve invested in. Every investment that you own is at risk of being ruined or wrecked. Since you have invested a lot of time, effort, and money to obtain these assets, your job is to insure them and get them protected from any harm.
However, how can we protect these assets from any harm? Is there even a thing for that? If you want to know the basics of general insurance, this article is for you.
What is General Insurance?
General Insurance is a type of insurance contract that does not come under the ambit of life insurance. It is commonly used to protect tangible assets such as cars or property. But since the term general insurance is broad, you can also get travel insurance, accident insurance, maid insurance, and work injury insurance under this type of insurance.
In simple terms, General Insurance aims to protect what you value the most. It may be your assets, your properties, or even yourself.
For example, if you got into an accident and your car got wrecked, the general insurance for your car should cover the repair cost of it (aside from the other claims you can make once you get in a car accident).
Different Types of General Insurance
Motor Insurance
It is illegal to drive one without getting a valid motor insurance policy in Singapore. The reason behind this is to ensure everyone’s safety in case of a motor accident. It is important to get motor insurance to cover the financial damages and losses when an accident happens.
The overall goal of motor insurance is to cover the expenses of the personal injury you may cause to third parties or cover the costs if you damage someone else’s property. The coverage of motor insurance depends on these factors:
Third-party liability insurance
If a third party damages your car, this policy will cover the financial losses and vice versa. This is the standard type of motor insurance that you can get nowadays. Third-party liability insurance is mandatory, and every vehicle owner should get one. If you are a public vehicle owner, the company you’re working with should cover the insurance for you.
Comprehensive Motor Insurance
Comprehensive motor insurance is an insurance policy that offers wide coverage. It will also cover third-party liability insurance while also covering the damages in your vehicle. It is like a win-win situation for you and the third party.
Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance is the best insurance you can get when you go out and travel. This is to ensure your safety from any accidents or risks when you travel. The usual coverage of travel insurance is for severe sudden illness during a trip, accidental injury, travel disruption, loss of personal belongings, and personal liability.
There are different types of coverage you can get with your travel insurance. Here are the common types:
Single Trip
Single Trip is usually perfect for short-term trips that can happen within or outside the country of origin.
Annual Cover
This policy covers multiple trips within one year. The coverage will depend on the policy you get, subject to the area of coverage and maximum duration per trip.
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Individual Plan
As the name suggests, this policy only ensures an individual or a single person. The coverage will depend on the terms and conditions of the policyholder.
Family Plan
If you have a family, a family plan is perfect for you since it covers not only you but your immediate family. However, a family plan is subject to a cap on insured persons under a family plan policy.
Property Insurance
If you care about your properties and treat them as valuable assets, this one is for you. Property insurance covers the damage loss of your property in a case when a fire or lightning happens. Under property insurance is fire insurance which is the common type of insurance for all houses in Singapore.
A fire insurance covers:
- Fire
- Lightning
- Domestic Explosion
- Bursting or Overflowing of Water Tanks and Apparatus
- Road Vehicle Impact
- Aircraft Impact
- Malicious Intent
- Riot and Strike
- Earthquake, Windstorm, and Flood
Work Injury Compensation Insurance
Every worker in Singapore requires a Work Injury Compensation Insurance or WIC. This insurance aims to pay for the physical rehabilitation and medical care of a worker who experienced an injury or accident within the workplace. This is also important to cover wages lost while recovering.
If you are doing manual work, your employer should cover your WIC. If you are doing non-manual work, you should have one earning $2,600 a month. Check the website of the Ministry of Manpower about WIC for more information.
Where Can I Get General Insurance?
Different general insurance agents, broking staff, or insurance brokers offer most of the general insurance products. But to be a licensed insurance agent that can distribute general insurance products, the person should be under a licensed and registered company by the Agents Registration Board (ARB). ARB is under the General Insurance Association (GIA).
Before buying an agent, you should ask for their information and check if they are registered in ARB. You can do this by going to the ARCM website here. It is essential to check if the agent you talk to is legitimate because many people fall under scams from people pretending to be an agent.
You can check these registered insurance companies under GIA and choose the best company for you for safer methods.
- Aetna Insurance Company Limited (Singapore Branch)
- AIA Singapore Private Limited
- AIG Asia Pacific Insurance Pte. Ltd
- Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE, Singapore Branch
- Allianz Insurance Singapore Pte. Ltd.
- Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd (Singapore Branch)
- Auto & General Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
- AXA Insurance Pte. Ltd
- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company
- China Taiping Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
- Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited
- Cigna Europe Insurance Co S.A. – N.V., Singapore Branch
- Direct Asia Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
- ECICS Limited
- EQ Insurance Company Limited
- ERGO Insurance Pte. Ltd
- Etiqa Insurance Pte. Ltd
- FWD Singapore Pte. Ltd
- Great American Insurance Company, Singapore Branch
- Great Eastern General Insurance Limited
- HDI Global SE Singapore
- HL Assurance Pte. Ltd
- India International Insurance Pte. Ltd
- Liberty Insurance Pte. Ltd
- Lloyd’s of London (Asia) Pte. Ltd
- Lonpac Insurance Bhd
- MS First Capital Insurance Ltd.
- MSIG Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
- NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited
- QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
- Raffles Health Insurance Pte. Ltd
- Singapore Life Ltd.
- Sompo Insurance Singapore Pte. Ltd
- Starr International Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd
- Swiss Re International SE, Singapore Branch
- Tokio Marine Insurance Singapore Ltd
- United Overseas Insurance Ltd.
- XL Insurance SE Singapore Branch
- Zurich Insurance Company Ltd (Singapore Branch)
These are the companies that you can find under GIA. To access the complete list, check them here.
Interested to know more about General Insurance?
Options will always be there for you to make sure you are safe from any problems or unprecedented circumstances that can happen in your life. It is never too late to with us about the available options to be insured.
While getting the best general insurance coverage to suit your needs may be challenging, this task may be made easier with the help of good financial advisors and companies.
To know more about general insurance, get a consultation with us or visit our website to learn more.
Important notes:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely that of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Professional Investment Advisory Services Pte Ltd. The information contained in this article is for general information only and does not constitute the provision of financial advisory services. The precise terms, conditions and exclusions of any services or products mentioned are specified in their respective policy contracts. For customised advice to suit your specific needs, consult an Apex Financial Advisor Representative.
This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
