9,125,331
That is the number of outgoing departures of Singaporean Residents last year.
It may be something to do with the smallness of our island state or the increasing affluence of Singaporeans.
Nevertheless, it is undisputed that Singaporeans are big on travelling.
Loving a beach getaway !
With the school holidays coming, many families are heading outside of Singapore once again.
It is a perfect time to ask,
“Is it worthwhile to buy a travel insurance?”
In this CNA article, a traveler narrated on his harrowing experience of dengue fever while in Saigon.
Timely intervention by an insurance representative had, in fact, saved his life.
It strengthens my personal belief that travel insurance is a must-buy.
Surprising, up to 45% of Singaporean travelers disagree with me and do not have travel insurance.
It is alarming to discover this figure.
Thus, we shall try to convince almost half of Singapore that travel insurance is worth taking up.
One versus 4 million actually.
1. Flight delay and cancellation are common
One coverage of travel insurance is for trip cancellation or delay.
You may think that the risk of that is rather small.
It is actually quite the contrary.
Looks like someone is late for Boracay.
From our research, there is an average of 100,000 flights per day.
About 26,614 cancellation and 493,730 delays were recorded in the last 30 days.
For those who are still counting at home, the risk of your flight cancellation and delay are 8.8% and 16.5% respectively.
Collectively, you have 1 in 5 chances of making a claim on this item.
Taking a risk of not having travel insurance?
Chew on that !
2. Your healthcare plan applies only in Singapore.
Most medical plans cover you while you are still within the nation’s boundary.
That is especially disadvantageous to us as compared to living in a large country such as the USA.
Where can we go for a vacation within Singapore?
Sentosa, Ubin and maybe Lazarus Island?
We simply do not have the privilege of travelling more than 100km and still not have our passport chopped.
Did you forget Kusu Island?
Therefore, most of our travel plans involve getting out of the city-state.
Unfortunately, that also means our medical plans do not follow us abroad.
Either you can get a worldwide medical plan or a travel insurance.
For most of us, it is more economical to get the latter.
3. You get support if you need medical attention abroad.
In the unfortunate event that you are injured or ill on your trip, the insurance SOS line may be a great help.
They may be able to assist you to get to the nearest medical facilities to get the necessary attention.
More than just that, most travel insurance will cover the cost of one relative or friend to visit you if you are hospitalized for a long while.
Imagine the emotionall support that you will be able to receive from your loved one.
Yes Sir, that is our hospital.
Lastly, if the need arises, your policy will cover for emergency medical evacuation.
Now that is one service I would love to have if I am severely ill in a third-world nation that is lacking in medical expertise.
4. Your luggage may go missing, damaged or delayed
There were 8.83 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers globally.[i]
86% of these luggage mishaps are due to delays while the remaining are stolen, lost or damaged.
I will look for you, I will find you…
We understand that luggage delay must be more than 6 hours before the insurer will pay up.
In addition, nothing can spoil a holiday like not having your personal belongings.
However, a travel insurance claim may make you feel slightly better about the whole trip.
5. No worry about your carelessness
Yes, your rental vehicle insurance covers you while you are driving a car in the foreign land.
However, what if you are happily riding a Jetski and you hit onto a surfer?
Does your rental insurance cover that?
Hi Mum, I think I have burnt the whole hotel.
A travel insurance usually does.
All your negligent acts while overseas will be covered.
Now you can have fun without being excessively careful !
It is relatively cheap.
According to Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study 2015, the median travel spendng for Singaporeans is $2250.
Using Singaporeans’ top destination Hong Kong, I did a search for the prices for the travel insurance for a duration of 5 days.
Dude, 5 days is too short for such a lovely place.
From our finding, an average travel insurance should cost you about $45.
It is about 2% of the median expenditure.
Don’t be penny wise, pound foolish.
2% savings is simply not worth the risk of missing out on all the above coverage!
Packing it all up
Finish up quickly so that I can go on holiday already !
A travel insurance does not just have the above benefits.
You are insured for accidental death, loss of personal money and more !
Before you make your decision, it will be useful to check out the whole scope of coverage.
With that, I hope that you may consider having yourself insured while travelling.
Either way, have lots of fun and stay safe.
Bon voyage !!
www.ClearlySurely.com aims to eradicate the knowledge gap between consumers and Life Insurance. Our Vision is that one day, every Man, Woman, and Child will be properly insured.
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Will be travelling sometime in May to the states, after doing a comparison on gobear I decided to go with FWD, their Travel insurance plan cover most “extreme” sport activities like sky diving, diving, hiking etc.
They also happen to have very good baggage loss/delay terms and are better than SOMPO, TM, MSIG and a few others in accident and medical coverage, they even include terrorism cover. I used a link for 5% off and completed their survey for an additional 5%. So overall, it’s a very good deal. I will include mine if anyone’s interested.
Here’s my code for 5% off: http://www.fwd.com.sg/?ref=170320r9yF8vGI
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