WEBVTT - Think travel insurance is unnecessary? Think again. 0:00:03.069 --> 0:00:05.349 You're listening to a CNA podcast. 0:00:08.130 --> 0:00:11.119 Welcome to the Money Talks podcast. I'm Andrea Heng. Now, 0:00:11.228 --> 0:00:14.350 how many of us have booked travel plans? In advance, 0:00:14.390 --> 0:00:16.659 of course, because we want to lock in the best deal, 0:00:16.909 --> 0:00:20.909 only to remember this one important thing to book at 0:00:20.909 --> 0:00:23.790 the very last minute because we often overlook it. 0:00:24.069 --> 0:00:28.370 I'm talking about travel insurance. Why is it so low 0:00:28.370 --> 0:00:31.979 on our priority list when we are excited about our 0:00:31.979 --> 0:00:35.900 travel plans? What happens when we leave it to the 0:00:35.900 --> 0:00:39.139 night before we fly or worse, when we are right 0:00:39.139 --> 0:00:42.778 there in the boarding room waiting for our flight? What's 0:00:42.779 --> 0:00:46.439 the benefit of buying travel insurance early then? Well, I'm 0:00:46.439 --> 0:00:49.309 gonna get some help in answering these questions. Sherri Wang 0:00:49.310 --> 0:00:52.259 is with me. She is the co-founder of Planner B. 0:00:52.380 --> 0:00:52.900 Hi Sherry. 0:00:53.189 --> 0:00:55.169 Hi Andrea, thank you for having me today. 0:00:55.299 --> 0:00:58.720 It's our pleasure, but confession from you first, Sherry, have 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.889 you ever left travel insurance to the very last minute? 0:01:02.020 --> 0:01:02.259 I 0:01:02.259 --> 0:01:05.260 would say definitely once or twice it has happened to 0:01:05.260 --> 0:01:07.220 me like we care about other people and they're like, 0:01:07.309 --> 0:01:09.018 oh dear, I forgot by myself. Oh, 0:01:09.220 --> 0:01:12.500 so it's yours was because you weren't complacent, you were 0:01:12.500 --> 0:01:14.220 just taking care of other people first. Yeah, and I 0:01:14.220 --> 0:01:16.059 was like, 00 dear, I forgot about mine. I thought 0:01:16.059 --> 0:01:19.019 it it was ongoing and I had to check and 0:01:19.019 --> 0:01:21.739 I always have this paranoia because of the work and 0:01:21.739 --> 0:01:22.169 I was like, 0:01:22.309 --> 0:01:25.410 OK, actually I think I should do a double check 0:01:25.410 --> 0:01:29.010 and true enough, thankfully I checked before we bought because 0:01:29.339 --> 0:01:32.089 otherwise it will be very challenging getting any coverage because 0:01:32.089 --> 0:01:34.819 usually they don't allow you to buy any coverage the 0:01:34.819 --> 0:01:36.389 moment you board your plane. Oh, 0:01:36.459 --> 0:01:38.889 that's true. I must have been quite lucky that one 0:01:38.889 --> 0:01:41.819 time that I did it right before takeoff. OK, so 0:01:41.819 --> 0:01:44.580 when you do pick travel insurance, Sherry, what are your 0:01:44.580 --> 0:01:47.419 go to? Do you hit the basic one or do 0:01:47.419 --> 0:01:49.290 you go max like all the way? 0:01:49.540 --> 0:01:51.300 We definitely don't go for the basic one. 0:01:52.099 --> 0:01:54.669 That's because most of the time they have shifted down 0:01:54.669 --> 0:02:00.089 the prices to provide you with a low-cost travel insurance, 0:02:00.260 --> 0:02:02.620 but with a lot of things excluded and that's the 0:02:02.620 --> 0:02:04.300 last thing you want. You want to get coverage, you 0:02:04.300 --> 0:02:07.660 don't want to be subpar about that. So we often 0:02:07.660 --> 0:02:10.779 look for at least the mid-tier or the higher tier plans, 0:02:10.979 --> 0:02:16.758 depending on any activities that you will be doing, for example, skiing, snowboarding, 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.020 then you might want to just get the better coverage 0:02:20.020 --> 0:02:20.460 for those. 0:02:20.770 --> 0:02:24.470 Trips and never depend on the free credit card ones. Oh, 0:02:24.538 --> 0:02:26.830 why is that? Those are given free for a reason. 0:02:26.860 --> 0:02:29.779 They are very limited in coverage. They would pretty much 0:02:29.779 --> 0:02:32.220 do nothing if there is an emergency. If there is 0:02:32.220 --> 0:02:37.059 a medical emergency overseas that could cost easily 100,000. Giving 0:02:37.059 --> 0:02:39.579 you 50,000 free is not going to really solve the 0:02:39.580 --> 0:02:40.500 entire problem actually. 0:02:40.649 --> 0:02:43.380 That's true. Have you ever had to take out like 0:02:43.380 --> 0:02:46.580 a travel insurance policy in those situations and like what's 0:02:46.580 --> 0:02:48.580 the most extreme situation you've had to make a claim 0:02:48.580 --> 0:02:49.539 for pre-existing. 0:02:49.669 --> 0:02:52.770 Conditions are not covered in almost all travel insurance policies 0:02:52.770 --> 0:02:55.800 with the exception of a few. If the person does 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:59.100 get like a heart attack and he's already with that 0:02:59.100 --> 0:03:01.929 condition prior to that travel, that is when we have 0:03:01.929 --> 0:03:04.619 to tell people the bad news. Yeah, but if they're 0:03:04.619 --> 0:03:07.429 covered under their own medical insurance in Singapore, we could 0:03:07.429 --> 0:03:09.538 always activate that for those situations. 0:03:09.619 --> 0:03:13.418 OK, what about you? What have you personally faced an 0:03:13.419 --> 0:03:15.779 extreme situation where you've had to take out this travel 0:03:15.779 --> 0:03:17.728 insurance claim? Unfortunately, 0:03:17.820 --> 0:03:18.740 we haven't really had 0:03:18.788 --> 0:03:22.320 Too many claims rejected before, but in that situation that 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.739 I've mentioned to you, that unfortunately was the case. Thankfully 0:03:25.740 --> 0:03:27.978 he got most of his medical bills covered under the 0:03:27.979 --> 0:03:30.979 integrated shield plan that he has in Singapore, but the 0:03:30.979 --> 0:03:35.179 evacuation from where he was to Singapore was something we 0:03:35.179 --> 0:03:38.000 could not cover, which would otherwise be if the travel 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:41.369 insurance was covering something that's non preexisting. OK, 0:03:41.380 --> 0:03:41.740 we'll get into 0:03:41.740 --> 0:03:44.000 the nitty gritty of that. I'm just wondering also because 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.169 I realized that I have a lot of friends who 0:03:46.169 --> 0:03:47.820 are into snowboarding. 0:03:47.910 --> 0:03:50.100 All of a sudden like they're going to Japan to 0:03:50.100 --> 0:03:53.690 do it. I know the yen dropping as well. So 0:03:53.690 --> 0:03:56.619 I'm just wondering about the trends, whether you can tell 0:03:56.619 --> 0:03:59.300 us about the kinds of trends in terms of travel 0:03:59.300 --> 0:04:03.100 insurance lately. What are you seeing more or less of. 0:04:03.300 --> 0:04:06.910 Yeah, I think before COVID definitely people are less aware 0:04:06.910 --> 0:04:10.699 of the importance of travel insurance. Post COVID we do 0:04:10.699 --> 0:04:14.809 see a huge, a much bigger intake on even short trips. Yeah, however, 0:04:14.940 --> 0:04:16.940 I think people are just more aware. 0:04:17.028 --> 0:04:20.618 aware that there are trip cancellations that can happen and 0:04:20.618 --> 0:04:22.539 that is something that we see a lot more claims 0:04:22.539 --> 0:04:24.269 on because you never know if you fall sick and 0:04:24.269 --> 0:04:26.618 you're unfit to travel. And the good thing is if 0:04:26.618 --> 0:04:30.289 you actually do get coverage while the best practice is 0:04:30.289 --> 0:04:32.967 to buy the travel insurance when you book your flight, 0:04:33.618 --> 0:04:36.777 so you won't forget and then if anything happens that 0:04:36.778 --> 0:04:41.498 result in like um inability to travel, for example, family emergency, 0:04:41.699 --> 0:04:45.658 medical emergency, your own medical emergencies then you could actually 0:04:45.658 --> 0:04:46.098 just 0:04:46.149 --> 0:04:49.859 Activate that to reimburse you for the losses that you 0:04:49.859 --> 0:04:52.779 could not get refund on. That would probably be one 0:04:52.779 --> 0:04:55.929 of the biggest awareness that people have now because COVID 0:04:55.928 --> 0:04:58.420 has resulted in a lot of cancellations of that trip. 0:04:58.500 --> 0:05:00.809 So I think that's a clause that people weren't aware 0:05:00.809 --> 0:05:02.739 of and now they are, but you have to buy 0:05:02.738 --> 0:05:05.299 your travel insurance at least 7 days before the departure, 0:05:05.339 --> 0:05:07.329 otherwise that won't be possible. 0:05:07.420 --> 0:05:10.440 Now, when I shop around for travel insurance, I tend 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.500 to go for the cheapest one, which you told us 0:05:12.500 --> 0:05:15.140 what not to do, right, we should avoid that. 0:05:15.529 --> 0:05:20.099 But what about shorter trips? I'm going for a couple 0:05:20.100 --> 0:05:24.750 of days to JB, KL, maybe Malacca, something that's not 0:05:24.750 --> 0:05:28.649 too far away, but also you are overseas still in 0:05:28.649 --> 0:05:31.988 a different country. So we feel like, I don't think 0:05:31.988 --> 0:05:34.149 anything is going to happen. I'll just buy the cheapest one, 0:05:34.290 --> 0:05:36.309 I should be good. What's your take on 0:05:36.309 --> 0:05:36.589 that? 0:05:36.779 --> 0:05:39.428 Possibly OK. So the way we see it is the 0:05:39.428 --> 0:05:41.390 amount of risk that you are taking. What would the 0:05:41.390 --> 0:05:41.868 risk cost? 0:05:42.532 --> 0:05:45.562 So in Malacca, I assume it could be a drive there, right? 0:05:45.622 --> 0:05:49.053 The risk of transporting a person that's sick back, how 0:05:49.053 --> 0:05:52.532 much would that cost? If I'm sick, would the hospitals 0:05:52.532 --> 0:05:54.933 there be more expensive than the ones in Singapore? If 0:05:54.933 --> 0:05:57.662 the answer is that the cost is pretty low, then 0:05:57.662 --> 0:06:01.441 maybe the basic plan would help you sufficiently in those situations, 0:06:01.692 --> 0:06:03.933 but I wouldn't look at the length of the trip alone. 0:06:03.972 --> 0:06:07.692 I would look at the cost of living in that country. Yeah, 0:06:07.972 --> 0:06:08.513 because if we 0:06:08.565 --> 0:06:10.555 Go to Switzerland and then we end up in a 0:06:10.555 --> 0:06:14.355 ski accident. The cost of medical bills in Switzerland, Hong 0:06:14.355 --> 0:06:17.795 Kong and Singapore are notoriously expensive and the US. So 0:06:17.795 --> 0:06:21.276 in those four places, the bills are no joke. It 0:06:21.276 --> 0:06:23.876 will be a very long trip back home, then I 0:06:23.876 --> 0:06:25.955 would go for a higher tier plan, 0:06:26.876 --> 0:06:29.075 long and painful, not just for the person but for 0:06:29.075 --> 0:06:33.876 the pocket as well. Yeah. OK, so you talked about 0:06:33.876 --> 0:06:35.096 how at least 0:06:35.148 --> 0:06:37.738 At least a week before your trip, it's the best 0:06:37.738 --> 0:06:40.979 time to book your travel insurance, otherwise when you book 0:06:40.979 --> 0:06:44.128 your flight, correct? Can you do it on the plane 0:06:44.128 --> 0:06:48.058 if you forget what kind of situation would be OK 0:06:48.058 --> 0:06:50.178 for us to like, oh, I forgot I'm going to 0:06:50.178 --> 0:06:52.769 book it now and we're right at the boarding gate 0:06:52.769 --> 0:06:53.079 and we're 0:06:53.079 --> 0:06:53.699 like, ah, 0:06:54.019 --> 0:06:57.289 yes, strictly speaking you can, you can buy it before 0:06:57.289 --> 0:07:00.019 the flight, the insurance will still be honored, but the 0:07:00.019 --> 0:07:01.678 moment you leave the country just 0:07:01.842 --> 0:07:04.872 bother buying it because it will be voided anyway. But 0:07:04.872 --> 0:07:07.881 there is one insurer though last year they have launched 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.721 a new feature where you could buy if you're one 0:07:10.721 --> 0:07:13.402 day into the trip. Yeah, so that's like good for 0:07:13.402 --> 0:07:16.402 people who forgot, but remember just in time, maybe they 0:07:16.402 --> 0:07:18.242 got off the flight and they immediately buy it. There 0:07:18.242 --> 0:07:21.421 are some exclusions on certain situations, but it's better than nothing. 0:07:21.601 --> 0:07:21.721 It 0:07:21.721 --> 0:07:23.802 is, it is better than no. Some coverage is better 0:07:23.802 --> 0:07:27.682 than none. So you can understand how shopping for travel 0:07:27.682 --> 0:07:28.161 insurance can be. 0:07:28.315 --> 0:07:33.704 A mind boggling experience. It's overwhelming. I mean, we're browsing 0:07:33.704 --> 0:07:36.614 online through a confusing menu of so many different tiers 0:07:36.614 --> 0:07:39.454 as you said, and then there are different insurers as well. 0:07:39.625 --> 0:07:41.575 How do we navigate that? What are the top three 0:07:41.575 --> 0:07:44.225 things we need to think about when we are shopping 0:07:44.225 --> 0:07:45.304 for a travel insurance plan? 0:07:45.464 --> 0:07:47.385 Yeah, I've looked at the database. I think we have 0:07:47.385 --> 0:07:50.265 something like 40 options in the system, so we have 0:07:50.265 --> 0:07:53.665 to nail it down, streamline the features down to the 0:07:53.665 --> 0:07:54.864 options down to about 0:07:55.339 --> 0:07:58.600 6 for people to choose from, things that we look 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.920 out for by ranking them, it's just like shopping for clothes, 0:08:01.959 --> 0:08:06.079 you filter them out. First, are there dangerous activities or 0:08:06.079 --> 0:08:09.320 adventurous activities that the person is doing, then that would 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.239 be a very easy filter. If it's a no then 0:08:11.239 --> 0:08:13.239 you could go for options that don't cover those and 0:08:13.239 --> 0:08:16.480 save costs, right? The one important thing that we look 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:18.269 out for that we think 0:08:18.769 --> 0:08:22.000 In all situations should be covered is medical evacuation. If 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.679 that is anything under 1 million, we tend to exclude 0:08:25.679 --> 0:08:29.440 those two because we've seen the cost of flight from 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:31.720 Australia being like a 250 million just to come back. 0:08:32.179 --> 0:08:34.400 If you go to the mountains like you like trekking, 0:08:34.919 --> 0:08:37.630 there is an additional step getting the person down the mountain. 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.280 So that will cost even more. And apart from the 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:43.280 cost of living in that country, if that place is 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.869 more rural, because there is just the lack of equipment 0:08:46.869 --> 0:08:47.710 and facilities. 0:08:47.765 --> 0:08:50.314 that could actually even cost even more. So that would 0:08:50.315 --> 0:08:52.594 be something that we look out for at least 1 0:08:52.594 --> 0:08:55.584 million and then we'll ask people, do you care about 0:08:55.744 --> 0:08:58.474 your belongings being stolen and stuff like that? Do you 0:08:58.474 --> 0:09:03.025 carry expensive stuff? So if that is correct, then those 0:09:03.025 --> 0:09:05.114 are things that you could filter out based on your 0:09:05.114 --> 0:09:07.825 own personalization and then you'll see that there will be 0:09:07.825 --> 0:09:10.635 a few options left and then you could just filter 0:09:10.635 --> 0:09:13.434 from there. Lastly, of course, we do have internal data 0:09:13.434 --> 0:09:16.674 on the claims experience for some insurers, so we have banned. 0:09:17.070 --> 0:09:20.669 Certain insurers from being in the list because they have 0:09:20.669 --> 0:09:22.549 bad claims experience that unreasonable. 0:09:22.710 --> 0:09:22.989 That's a 0:09:22.989 --> 0:09:25.950 very big thing for claimants. OK, talk to me 0:09:25.950 --> 0:09:26.449 about that. 0:09:26.669 --> 0:09:29.189 The claims experience is most important, but thankfully maybe if 0:09:29.190 --> 0:09:32.669 you're not experienced with that means you've been lucky so far, right? 0:09:32.830 --> 0:09:35.358 But we know, so we're like, OK, this is good 0:09:35.359 --> 0:09:37.449 or upfront, but this is not very good at the 0:09:37.450 --> 0:09:39.869 back for some reason, we will be upfront. 0:09:39.989 --> 0:09:41.799 What constitutes a smooth claims 0:09:41.799 --> 0:09:45.030 experience? The time frame that understandably be high volumes at 0:09:45.030 --> 0:09:46.468 certain times we can manage. 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.760 That with the insurer, but if they're excluding claims that 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.950 are unreasonable for strange reasons, then we will highlight it 0:09:54.950 --> 0:09:58.161 to our customers in advance to say, hey, the claims 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.320 experience has been unreasonably bad, you might want to exclude 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:02.601 these options. So 0:10:02.601 --> 0:10:05.721 if it takes too long for a claim to be processed, 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.640 or if they are rejecting it unreasonable basis. OK, 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.161 interesting. I didn't know that there was a thing. So 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:16.080 my dad is a business traveler, he's overseas as we speak. 0:10:16.182 --> 0:10:20.851 Right now, what kind of special inclusions do we need 0:10:20.851 --> 0:10:23.530 to look out for in a holiday travel insurance plan 0:10:23.530 --> 0:10:25.971 versus a business travel insurance plan? 0:10:26.131 --> 0:10:28.731 Is he covered under a company or he did buy 0:10:28.731 --> 0:10:29.202 it himself? 0:10:29.291 --> 0:10:31.170 He's covered under the company, but he does have the 0:10:31.171 --> 0:10:33.372 freedom to choose what he wants. So he chose to 0:10:33.372 --> 0:10:36.611 do an annual one. So I suppose that's one of 0:10:36.611 --> 0:10:40.002 the tips I would offer for someone who's a business traveler, 0:10:40.151 --> 0:10:42.431 or what else would you say should be included for 0:10:42.432 --> 0:10:43.372 a business 0:10:43.372 --> 0:10:43.822 traveler. 0:10:43.971 --> 0:10:45.581 So we do manage business. 0:10:46.023 --> 0:10:49.502 travels and personal travels, they can be different in a 0:10:49.502 --> 0:10:52.502 very specific way. The coverage are generally the same, but 0:10:52.502 --> 0:10:54.902 there is a clause where it says if this is 0:10:54.903 --> 0:10:58.583 a plan made for business travels only, if you extend 0:10:58.583 --> 0:11:01.713 your trip, which people tend to do prior or after, 0:11:01.903 --> 0:11:05.663 there is no coverage for that period. So if you 0:11:05.663 --> 0:11:08.982 are planning to go to say Australia for a work 0:11:08.982 --> 0:11:10.783 trip and you would like to extend it to see 0:11:10.783 --> 0:11:13.593 the place for another 3 days, maybe just a weekend, 0:11:13.822 --> 0:11:15.262 you have to buy a travel insurance for the end. 0:11:15.403 --> 0:11:17.984 Entire trip yourself to be covered for that 3 days. 0:11:18.054 --> 0:11:19.453 You can't just buy the 3 days. 0:11:19.554 --> 0:11:21.234 So I have to plan ahead. I know I have 0:11:21.234 --> 0:11:23.073 to do this before I leave as well, 0:11:24.544 --> 0:11:27.953 because the business travel insurance are often catering only for 0:11:27.953 --> 0:11:32.023 business travel days. The moment that engagement ends, even though 0:11:32.023 --> 0:11:34.473 you have not returned to Singapore and you have extended 0:11:34.473 --> 0:11:36.963 it on your own personal time, the coverage ends. 0:11:37.564 --> 0:11:41.234 OK. So now I wanted to talk about the Ts 0:11:41.234 --> 0:11:44.424 and C's, the fine prints which nobody likes to read. 0:11:44.513 --> 0:11:44.963 I'm 0:11:45.445 --> 0:11:47.964 going to ask you for a favor here and give 0:11:47.965 --> 0:11:51.525 us maybe 3 things that we should pick out from 0:11:51.525 --> 0:11:53.854 the Ts and C's that we need to pay attention to. 0:11:54.034 --> 0:11:57.244 OK, the number 11 would be that if because of 0:11:57.244 --> 0:12:00.205 trip cancellations, which is a high number of claims happening 0:12:00.205 --> 0:12:03.315 for that, just be sure that when you're buying the policy, 0:12:03.604 --> 0:12:06.465 if you are looking for a possibility of that claim, 0:12:06.724 --> 0:12:10.385 there is either a 30 days, 7 day or sometimes 0:12:10.385 --> 0:12:13.164 a 5 day waiting period. It can be as short 0:12:13.164 --> 0:12:14.525 as 3 if I remember. 0:12:14.625 --> 0:12:16.856 Correctly, but they do vary quite a bit from 30 0:12:16.856 --> 0:12:20.455 to 3 days. So if you're looking to get your 0:12:20.455 --> 0:12:24.135 trip cancellations, postponing your trip, those fees covered and you're 0:12:24.135 --> 0:12:27.096 like maybe on the 5th day from your travel date, 0:12:27.216 --> 0:12:29.135 you might want to look for a policy that is 0:12:29.135 --> 0:12:31.966 with an exclusion of 3 days instead of the 130 days, 0:12:31.976 --> 0:12:35.976 then you're not really helping yourself in that situation. That's 0:12:35.976 --> 0:12:38.935 one fine print. The second one, we see a lot 0:12:38.934 --> 0:12:42.325 of tests in certain countries in the world, especially Snatch 0:12:42.325 --> 0:12:43.885 and phones and stuff. 0:12:44.236 --> 0:12:46.266 There are some plans, especially the credit card ones that 0:12:46.267 --> 0:12:50.026 do not cover loss of mobile phones specifically. So that 0:12:50.026 --> 0:12:52.665 would be another cost. And then lastly, I think the 0:12:52.666 --> 0:12:55.665 pre-existing would be a big one. Although there are some 0:12:55.666 --> 0:12:58.187 plans that cover pre-existing, the limits are still pretty 0:12:58.187 --> 0:12:58.656 low 0:12:58.655 --> 0:13:01.427 because it's the type of pre-existing condition you have at 0:13:01.427 --> 0:13:04.427 what stage you're at these sorts of things, right? 0:13:04.437 --> 0:13:07.497 OK. And maybe one last one would be people with 0:13:07.497 --> 0:13:11.165 pets now, many people with pets, your furry babies might 0:13:11.166 --> 0:13:13.747 be in a boarding home hotel if there. 0:13:13.848 --> 0:13:16.557 Some delay while you're overseas, you'll have to extend the 0:13:16.557 --> 0:13:19.588 boarding period that could be covered too for some policies. 0:13:19.888 --> 0:13:22.237 OK, so I want to talk now about those unforeseen 0:13:22.237 --> 0:13:25.277 circumstances you've mentioned a few of them, right, which is 0:13:25.278 --> 0:13:27.757 really what travel insurance is all about. It's supposed to 0:13:27.756 --> 0:13:31.078 help us in need when these situations arise. Accidents happen, 0:13:31.158 --> 0:13:34.148 we get injured, we fall ill, but how do we 0:13:34.477 --> 0:13:38.598 activate our travel insurance in these situations? When does it 0:13:38.598 --> 0:13:41.317 kick in and what does it kick in for in 0:13:41.317 --> 0:13:41.638 those 0:13:41.638 --> 0:13:42.187 situations? 0:13:42.197 --> 0:13:43.398 In your situation, 0:13:43.458 --> 0:13:46.479 If that happens again, hopefully not, there is usually a 0:13:46.479 --> 0:13:49.528 24 hour hotline. OK, you call that, they will arrange 0:13:49.528 --> 0:13:52.528 for evacuation. That's what I mean like the evacuation could 0:13:52.528 --> 0:13:55.528 also be from natural disasters and that is important and 0:13:55.528 --> 0:13:58.648 they will arrange, I suppose at that point a batch 0:13:58.648 --> 0:14:00.958 of people to come back to Singapore at the same time. 0:14:01.088 --> 0:14:04.408 That would be hyper-emergency. If it's a smaller thing like 0:14:04.408 --> 0:14:08.169 a flu, influenza A that's happening everywhere, you could just 0:14:08.169 --> 0:14:10.039 see the doctor for you first and then you have 0:14:10.039 --> 0:14:12.488 to pay for the bills and then the reimbursement comes 0:14:12.489 --> 0:14:12.929 when you come back. 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:17.500 Singapore in between, if it's a hospital stay, in all 0:14:17.500 --> 0:14:20.260 policies they do indicate that you will have to pay 0:14:20.260 --> 0:14:20.900 for the bills 0:14:20.900 --> 0:14:21.289 first. 0:14:21.340 --> 0:14:22.059 I guess it's because 0:14:22.059 --> 0:14:23.130 there's no shared system. 0:14:23.260 --> 0:14:27.049 Yes, and they are unable to assess the claim until 0:14:27.049 --> 0:14:30.059 the discharge happens because the doctors will have to write 0:14:30.059 --> 0:14:32.340 like a discharge report and then they will assess the claim. 0:14:32.419 --> 0:14:34.669 So they will require people to pay for it first, 0:14:34.780 --> 0:14:37.940 but these bills could be very expensive. But you could 0:14:37.940 --> 0:14:40.739 also activate with that same hotline to tell the insurer 0:14:40.739 --> 0:14:42.580 this is happening and they can do a pre-assessment. 0:14:42.681 --> 0:14:45.991 And first, some hospitals would be nice enough to say, OK, 0:14:46.111 --> 0:14:48.710 we've got some sort of like agreement with the insurer, 0:14:49.031 --> 0:14:51.551 we could waive off a little bit of your deposit 0:14:51.551 --> 0:14:54.031 or something like that, then that could help with the 0:14:54.031 --> 0:14:56.750 financial cash flow. So travel insurance could help with that. Wow, 0:14:56.911 --> 0:14:59.991 OK, that's great to know. What about when a political 0:14:59.991 --> 0:15:04.460 crisis unfolds in a country, immediately I'm thinking about South Korea. 0:15:04.591 --> 0:15:07.510 We actually knew some people who were in Seoul at 0:15:07.510 --> 0:15:10.390 the time of these protests and all that, they weren't 0:15:10.390 --> 0:15:12.151 violent but it's still an uncomfortable. 0:15:12.521 --> 0:15:14.882 situation to be in, not the kind of situation you 0:15:14.882 --> 0:15:17.681 want to be when you're on holiday. How might travel 0:15:17.682 --> 0:15:20.642 insurance help us get us to safety perhaps. Is that 0:15:20.642 --> 0:15:21.401 something that is 0:15:21.401 --> 0:15:21.830 covered? 0:15:21.961 --> 0:15:24.681 Yes, actually, and I would say most of the insurance 0:15:24.682 --> 0:15:27.642 policies in Singapore that would cover that situation if you 0:15:27.642 --> 0:15:30.441 have not left Singapore as well. OK, so if you 0:15:30.442 --> 0:15:33.802 need to cancel those plans because there is like riots 0:15:33.802 --> 0:15:37.171 or civil unrest that could be covered under the trip 0:15:37.171 --> 0:15:41.802 cancellation clause provided you buy at least say 7 days prior. 0:15:41.903 --> 0:15:45.492 To leaving and prior to the event happening. If the 0:15:45.492 --> 0:15:49.333 event has already been known, then most class would be 0:15:49.333 --> 0:15:50.492 known events are not covered, 0:15:50.653 --> 0:15:50.893 right? 0:15:51.013 --> 0:15:55.043 In this example, it would be me wanting to go 0:15:55.043 --> 0:15:58.653 to a war zone where something's already happening, a travel 0:15:58.653 --> 0:15:59.973 insurance will not cover me 0:15:59.973 --> 0:16:00.282 there. 0:16:00.692 --> 0:16:04.122 But in that situation that happened at that point with Korea, 0:16:04.333 --> 0:16:06.853 if you had bought your travel insurance prior to that 0:16:06.853 --> 0:16:09.973 event happening, then you could actually apply for a cancellation 0:16:09.973 --> 0:16:11.482 stating that there is now 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.880 Unrest and you want to cancel those plans and you 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.039 could make a claim on that. What about evacuations? Yeah, 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.140 if you're already there, they will make an assessment whether 0:16:19.140 --> 0:16:21.630 the flights are affected and stuff. If it's not, then 0:16:21.799 --> 0:16:24.299 there's no claim to be made. Yeah of course thankfully 0:16:24.299 --> 0:16:26.599 in that situation wasn't the case, yeah. 0:16:26.650 --> 0:16:26.750 I 0:16:26.750 --> 0:16:28.840 just want to go back to the natural disaster bit here. 0:16:29.039 --> 0:16:32.710 I know there are clauses in many insurance plans, not 0:16:32.710 --> 0:16:35.919 just travel insurance, but just insurance in general, about acts 0:16:35.919 --> 0:16:38.440 of God. Now the thing is natural disasters. 0:16:38.521 --> 0:16:40.711 are acts of God if you want to frame it 0:16:40.711 --> 0:16:44.392 that way. So are there limitations there to travel insurance 0:16:44.392 --> 0:16:47.471 when it comes to these natural disasters that are acts 0:16:47.471 --> 0:16:48.031 of God? 0:16:48.151 --> 0:16:50.710 Perhaps another clause we should look out for. There are 0:16:50.711 --> 0:16:54.791 some that don't cover acts of God and actually most do. Yeah, 0:16:55.111 --> 0:16:57.591 so that's fine. Alright. Again, if it's a known event 0:16:57.591 --> 0:16:59.031 and you're just like, hey, I want to go look 0:16:59.031 --> 0:17:00.492 at the volcano, then 0:17:00.492 --> 0:17:04.552 no. But what about relief workers? So after the earthquake 0:17:04.552 --> 0:17:05.192 in Nepal. 0:17:05.311 --> 0:17:08.103 My husband went back a month later to help with 0:17:08.103 --> 0:17:11.822 relief work. Are there insurers that are willing to cover 0:17:11.821 --> 0:17:12.223 relief 0:17:12.223 --> 0:17:12.623 workers 0:17:12.623 --> 0:17:16.582 perhaps that would be quite a standalone situation, it would 0:17:16.583 --> 0:17:20.342 be a special request for coverage. Yeah, but it is 0:17:20.343 --> 0:17:23.853 underwritten as the usual travel insurance. Yeah, it is possible, 0:17:23.863 --> 0:17:27.302 but very unlikely. There are people who go on competitions 0:17:27.302 --> 0:17:31.383 now with the marathon and the triathletes. Those are not 0:17:31.383 --> 0:17:32.052 covered when 0:17:32.105 --> 0:17:36.215 You are in that situation because the common exclusion would 0:17:36.215 --> 0:17:39.656 be that if you're competing in any competition, that will 0:17:39.656 --> 0:17:40.015 not be 0:17:40.015 --> 0:17:40.375 covered. 0:17:40.576 --> 0:17:43.196 Right? So what insurance can I get though if I'm 0:17:43.196 --> 0:17:45.135 an athlete? Clearly I'm not, but you have to 0:17:45.135 --> 0:17:48.086 get your own medical insurance, those coverage would be limited 0:17:48.086 --> 0:17:49.936 to whatever that covers. 0:17:50.215 --> 0:17:52.076 But you have to be a professional to do it. 0:17:52.156 --> 0:17:52.336 I mean, 0:17:53.135 --> 0:17:56.775 as non-professionals not covered and if you go tracking above 0:17:56.776 --> 0:17:58.776 a certain limit, there are some insurers. 0:17:58.897 --> 0:18:02.208 That they kept it at 3000, 5000. I think the 0:18:02.208 --> 0:18:05.807