Am I over/underinsured?

[Sausage]

I am not sure if I have too many policies or if they are redundant. I was just cataloging my policies the other day, many of them were bought when I was younger and didn't know anything other than 'its good to have insurance'.

This is what I have:

These I think I bought when in the army more than 20 years ago:
NTUC pioneer plan Life insurance/endowment
MSIG Accidental death plan
Aviva MINDEF group insurance

This one I bought around 10-15 years ago I think:
Great Eastern Supreme Health

These ones no choice, we need to have them:
Aviva Personal Eldershield
Great Eastern Dependents Protection Scheme


Any opinions?

 

[BBCWatcher]

These I think I bought when in the army more than 20 years ago:
NTUC pioneer plan Life insurance/endowment
MSIG Accidental death plan
Aviva MINDEF group insurance

It's quite likely there's some redundancy in there.

This one I bought around 10-15 years ago I think:
Great Eastern Supreme Health

That's an Integrated Shield plan (hospitalization insurance). Which one?

These ones no choice, we need to have them:
Aviva Personal Eldershield
Great Eastern Dependents Protection Scheme

No, they are choices. You're not required to have them. You're automatically enrolled in them, but you can opt out if you wish.

DPS almost certainly overlaps with one or more of the policies you listed in the first section. Eldercare may or may not. (Aviva's MINDEF group policy has some overlap depending on what you bought.)

 

[anfielder]

I am not sure if I have too many policies or if they are redundant. I was just cataloging my policies the other day, many of them were bought when I was younger and didn't know anything other than 'its good to have insurance'.

This is what I have:

These I think I bought when in the army more than 20 years ago:
NTUC pioneer plan Life insurance/endowment
MSIG Accidental death plan
Aviva MINDEF group insurance

This one I bought around 10-15 years ago I think:
Great Eastern Supreme Health

These ones no choice, we need to have them:
Aviva Personal Eldershield
Great Eastern Dependents Protection Scheme


Any opinions?

Coverage (total sum assured) is more important than the number of policies.

I think you should count yourself lucky that there's no ILP in your portfolio, and only 1 endowment.

 

[a4973]

Hi BBCWatcher
please help me understand the impact of having redundant and / or overlapping policies other than the obvious $ outlay impact.
for redundant policies - my take is that you are paying for the said redundant policies however when the crunch comes you can't claim against all of them? (eg H & S plan - even if you have more than 1 H & S plan but you can only claim your H & S charges against 1 H & S policy)
for overlapping policies - my take is that you are paying for the said overlapping policies however when the crunch comes you can claim against all of them?
thanks

 

[JuniorLion]

Would you be able to give us some info on your situation?

 

[BBCWatcher]

please help me understand the impact of having redundant and / or overlapping policies other than the obvious $ outlay impact.

The premiums are slightly important.

for redundant policies - my take is that you are paying for the said redundant policies however when the crunch comes you can't claim against all of them? (eg H & S plan - even if you have more than 1 H & S plan but you can only claim your H & S charges against 1 H & S policy)

Yes, if you qualify for claims against multiple policies you can file multiple claims. Occasionally policies can be "coordinated." As a common example, you might have some medical insurance from your employer, and you might have Integrated Shield coverage. What often happens is that your employer's medical insurance will reimburse the Integrated Shield insurance carrier, not you, to some extent anyway. You don't get to "double dip" and get cash above the loss.

So that's a possible peril, that a policy will "coordinate" if redundant. You don't get any premium discount when that happens.

In the past I had a particular disability insurance policy that coordinated, and that's another fairly common example. Typically disability insurance doesn't let you collect more than XX% of your salary before the disability, in order to avoid possible moral hazard problems. (Which are exaggerated, but the insurance companies seem to worry about them.) So does the Aviva MINDEF disability rider coordinate with ElderShield? I don't know, but it's enough of a possibility that I'd look into it.

There's also the paperwork burden. Policy A might require original receipts, and Policy B might require the same. How do you obtain two original receipts, or two original doctor's reports, or whatever? You can, but it's a hassle.

Usually if you've got policies that overlap then you goofed, but sure, it's possible you didn't -- and that you wanted/needed more coverage, you're actually getting it (no "coordination" or other complications), and you got a better deal splitting things up.