5 types of insurance you can get for free in Singapore

Did you know there are insurance plans that protect you from online scams or damaged e-commerce buys — all without paying a cent? Read on for more types of insurance you can get absolutely FOC right now.

How are these insurance plans free, you ask? You might be thinking they must come with a catch, whether it’s for branding, to build loyalty or to gain customers. However, most of the conditions required are relatively easy to meet.

Read on to find out what kind of free coverage you can get, and how to get hold of these plans. 

1. Online banking insurance: SingSaver

Scam cases increased by 54 per cent in 2019 and over $600,000 has been lost in more than 80 reports of a new scam from Jan to May 2020—a worrying trend in our smart nation. 

Scams can be difficult to spot and the Singapore Police Force’s Anti-Scam Centre (ASC) can’t always recover the money. Individually, we’ll have to do our part and step up our vigilance to keep our accounts safe.  

We’ve got some handy tips to prevent cyber attacks. 

As online scammers continue to outwit even the most discerning of Singaporeans, SingSaver has tied up with Allianz to offer online banking insurance that protects you from financial losses resulting from online banking or credit card fraud.

This includes improper online payments or unauthorised transfers (a Cyber Attack). 

With this insurance, for any financial loss incurred as a result of a Cyber Attack, you will receive:

• Up to $1,000 per event or up to $2,000 per insured individual
• Step-by-step assistance in recovering your expenses or losses
• Information and advice on recovering losses and preventing future Cyber Attacks

From now till 31 August 2020, redeem a complimentary Allianz Online Banking Protection Insurance when you sign up for a free SingSaver account. If you already have a SingSaver account, you can log in to the dashboard to redeem this online banking insurance. 

2. Dengue insurance: Great Eastern

Covid-19 aside, dengue is yet another battle Singapore is fighting to control. The number of dengue cases in 2020 has reached a record high, with five months of the year to go. 

While the majority of cases do not require inpatient care, a fraction of dengue cases still result in hospitalisation and can even be fatal. It’s better to err on the side of caution, especially if your neighbourhood is a dengue hotspot.

From now till  Aug 31, 2020, Great Eastern is offering free dengue insurance with their free Assurance Kit that comes with the GREAT MozzieSafe plan and GP video consultation. 

Here’s the coverage you receive under the GREAT MozzieSafe (basic) plan:

• Daily hospital cash benefit of $50 if you are admitted into a Singapore hospital (Standard Room & Board)
• Daily hospital cash benefit of $150 if you are admitted into a Singapore hospital (Intensive Care Unit)

This hospital cash benefit is capped at a maximum of 10 days per hospitalisation. You will also receive the same daily hospital cash benefit if you are hospitalised due to these covered diseases: Zika, Malaria, Yellow Fever and Chikungunya Fever. 

For those that continue to exercise vigilance by staying home as much as possible, the free video consultation from Doctor Anywhere could come in handy. Read more about telemedicine apps here.

You can also check out these 4 affordable dengue insurance plans, some of which go beyond infectious diseases to offer personal accident coverage as well. 

3. Covid-19 coverage: Various insurance providers

2020 can easily be defined as the year of Covid-19. Some insurance companies such as AIA, AXA and Etiqa have gone the distance to protect their customers by introducing free Covid-19 coverage. More details on what you’ll need to pay if you get Covid-19 here.

Here are the insurance companies offering free Covid-19 coverage: 

• AIA: $1,000 hospitalisation income if admitted due to Covid-19 and $25,000 death benefit 
• AXA: $200 hospitalisation benefit per day for up to 90 days if you are hospitalised due to Covid-19 and $20,000 death benefit 
• Etiqa: $100 per day hospitalisation benefit or $200 per day if warded in an Intensive Care Unit (up to $1,000) due to Covid-19 and $50,000 death benefit
• Great Eastern: $200 daily hospital income benefit for hospitalisation due to Covid-19 up to 60 days and $20,000 death benefit 
• NTUC Income: $100 or $200 per day of hospitalisation due to Covid-19, for up to 30 days and $20,000 death benefit

Apart from these free Covid-19 benefits, you can increase your coverage by purchasing a personal accident plan that covers infectious diseases, such as the FWD Personal Accident and Infectious Disease Coverage offered by SingSaver.

At just $98 a year, you enjoy coverage for accidents and 24 different infectious diseases, including Covid-19 and dengue. 

4. E-commerce protection: Credit cards for shopping

The one ‘winner’ of this pandemic has to be e-commerce. With people confined to their homes, our shopping has gone online and the items purchased range far and wide. 

Businesses have also been pushed to go digital sooner rather than later, to avoid going extinct. The Singapore government has also pitched in by offering grants and other Covid-19 measures to support businesses.

However, with online purchases, customers do run the risk of receiving faulty, damaged products or not even receiving them at all. Some banks have recognised this risk, hence offer e-commerce protection as a credit card benefit. 

What’s usually covered under e-commerce protection: 

• Incomplete delivery or wrong item delivered
• Malfunctions due to physical damage to delivered items
• Non-delivery of purchase after 30 days of the scheduled delivery

Here are the credit cards that offer free e-commerce protection, and it is by no coincidence that these credit cards are made for online shoppers: 

• OCBC Titanium card (Blue card face / Pink card face): 10x OCBC$ (4mpd) for every $1 spent in stores and online. Read our full review of this card. 
• UOB Lady’s card: Earn 10X UNI$ (or 20 miles) for every $5 spent
• DBS Woman’s card: 2 mpd for online purchases
• DBS Woman’s World card: 4 mpd for online purchases

5. Travel Insurance: Various credit cards

Travelling overseas looks to be impossible in 2020 and Covid-19 has all but highlighted the importance of buying travel insurance as soon as your plans are confirmed. 

Some credit cards, particularly miles credit cards, offer free travel insurance that range from $200,000 to $1 million in coverage. You are usually required to charge your travel spend to the card in order to be eligible for the travel insurance. 

Some credit cards that offer free travel insurance include: 

• AMEX Krisflyer: Up to $350,000 travel inconvenience and travel accident benefits
• AMEX Krisflyer Ascend: Up to $1 million travel inconvenience and travel accident benefits
• CIMB World Mastercard: Up to $1 million travel insurance coverage
• Citi PremierMiles: Up to $1 million in insurance coverage 
• DBS Altitude: Up to S$1 million travel accident insurance coverage
• HSBC Revolution: Up to $300,000 travel insurance coverage
• Maybank Platinum Visa: Up to $500,000 travel insurance coverage
• OCBC 365: Up to $500,000 travel personal accident insurance and up to $400 coverage for baggage loss
• Standard Chartered Rewards+: Up to $500,000 travel medical insurance 
• UOB PRVI: Up to $500,000 personal accident coverage and emergency medical assistance

This free travel insurance can include coverage for accidents, lost luggage and flight delays. You can find a detailed comparison of what complimentary travel insurance from credit cards cover here. 

However, there are gaps when it comes to complimentary travel insurance. For example, some of these plans fail to provide adequate cover (or any cover at all) for travel cancellation, medical evacuation or medical expenses. 

Rather than relying on free travel insurance from your credit card, you should also purchase a travel insurance plan that adequately covers you for any mishaps. 

There are also other rewards you can get for free when you sign up for credit cards on SingSaver. Find all the top promotions and deals here. 

This article was first published in SingSaver.com.sg.