Tan Kin Lian's Blog: DirectAsia.com

Friday, July 23, 2010

DirectAsia.com

I met the top management of DirectAsia.com. They told me that they are registered as an insurance company in Singapore. They are starting their operation in Singapore and will move to other countries at a later date. I like their model of direct, online marketing of simple insurance products to the public. They will reach out to a small but growing market. I am confident that they will be successful in their venture.

I encourage you to go to their website and get their quotes for motor, travel and personal accident insurance. Do not wait until renewal of your insurance. You can get a quote now and compare with your existing rates. You should also compare the policy coverage and conditions. If they can, you can apply to them now to issue you a policy on the next renewal date (which I hope that they can accommodate). This will save you the hassle on renewal.

www.directasia.com

8 comments:

Victor Foo said...: I have just purchased a personal accident insurance with directasia.com - on top of my two i-Term policies with NTUC Income Insurance.; July 23, 2010 11:27 AM
zhummmeng said...: You should help to start a online or direct buying of life insurance.It is not difficult.
Have a calculator to compute the quantum of insurance needed. Have good description of the products, full disclosure of info.
The products for term, wholelife and critical illness should pose no problem after all most consumers if not all consumers buy life insurance without advice other than product advice. Product advice is just product information and if insurance agents only provide product information I cannot see why the online portal cannot replicate and it can give even more, unbiased and objective. In fact it is more advantageous to buyers because they can take their time to study the products thoroughly before making the 'informed decision'.No agent to rush you or to twist and distort facts or to prey on your emotion and you are in control.
The downside is it is a caveat emptor purchase and you take responsibility. But what is the difference with buying from insurance agents? No difference if you choose product advice option or more likely the agents will advise you to tick product advice option to make his or her job easier to push you a high commission product without having to justify it and also they are NOT liable for any consequences.
If that is so why buy from insurance agents when you get nothing but get conned into buying a product that benefits them and worse,you will be left carrying the baby if things go wrong, right?
The advantage of buying online is you DON"T PAY commission and it can be as much as 1.5 years of premium saved. It is a trend.
You don't need the insurance agents. Information in the portal is enough to help you make informed decision and no harrassment or lies and conflict of interest.
Online is another means of getting rid of the incompetent insurance agents who only care to push products for commission.
DIRECT Asia should consider this .There is a lot of saving for consumers.; July 23, 2010 11:42 AM
zhummmeng said...: Hi CONSUMERS,
are you aware that if you buy life insurance and you choose product advice or option 3 you will lose all your rights to any recourse.This means you have forfeited your rights and the company and agent who sold to you is NOT responsible and liable for anything? It is CAVEAT EMPTOR.
Did your agent alert you to this warning and explain to you the implication of choosing option 3?
Or it is the agent who advised to choose option 3.If it is the agent you can lodge against him or her to the company or MAS to complain that the agent is avoiding fact find becuase he or she wants to push a high commission product to you.
This is the MAS guideline on the options.
If you have already bought a product and realised it was the agent who advised you to tick the option 3 and the product was a high commission product you can lodge with the company and demand a refund because the agent didn't give you a proper fact finding to uncover your needs. You have the right to responsible and competent financial planning.
Seek help from FISCA to check the fact find forms for conflict of interest. All product pushing suffers from conflict of interest if not unethical selling and mis-selling.Don't wait and walk around with a time bomb. Buying insurance is about peace of mind and having fully insured is peace of mind and not worrying about a time bomb.
Do you have more than $500K or 10 times your annual salary to take care of your family when you are not around? Do you have 5 times your annual salary to replace income if you should contract a dread disease? Do you have proper H&S medical for hospitalization?
Are you covered for 70% of your salary if you should be disabled?
Please don't be frightened by the amount of coverage above. Of course if you buy wholelife or limited payment wholelife you will never be covered fully.
Less than $150 a month can take care of the above needs FULLY and no need a limb or an arm the insurance agents want you to think.
Risk management should be managed IMMEDIATELY and not postponed or staggered as insurance agents always advise . They advise delaying because they want to sell limited WL to make more commission. You die without enough insurance is your business.That is also why they talk about 'review' of your insurance because they know you have not enough and it is created by them.
Consumers , be aware of your rights and know what is insurance. Consult a 3rd party if you do not know. Don't let the wileful agents con you. I ma sure if you have visited Mr Tan's blog you would have read about many cases of wrong insurance, short changed, and mis-selling. You take charge and ask the questions.
All the best.; July 23, 2010 1:18 PM
Anonymous said...: MR. TAN, I JUST DONE AN ON LINE QUOTE AND THE DIFF IN PREMIUM FROM MY EXISTING POLICY IS HALF OF MY PREMIUM. WILL MOVE TO THEM NEXT YEAR.

THANK YOU; July 23, 2010 5:25 PM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Hi Mr Tan,

(1) DirectAsia.com is new. So how do we know if their claim procedures are easy and reliable? Many friends have complained that it is very easy to part with our hard-earned money (paying premiums, in the case of insurance) but very difficult when making claims! I personally have not made any claims before but I am already getting worried as to what will happen when the time comes.

(2) Since you are so knowledgeable and experienced in insurance matters, why don’t you start an on-line insurance company, like DirectAsia.com? I am sure many people will benefit from it if you practise what you have been teaching us in your blog – look after people’s welfare, help them to protect themselves financially, instead of squeezing them in order to make high commissions and supernormal profits, like what most insurance agents and private insurers are doing now.

(3) Thanks a lot for sharing with us invaluable information and knowledge about insurance matters thru’ your blog.

CLSUA; July 24, 2010 12:34 AM
anon said...: I would like to share my positive experience with DirectAsia. I made a claim for loss of handphone on my travel insurance. It's the first time I have ever made a claim on loss of personal possession.

DirectAsia was very prompt in processing the claim. Just three days after I submitted the application, a decision was made.

Although DirectAsia's travel insurance does not come with as many benefits as other companies' packages, the usual ones such as travel inconvenience are covered and usually have the same payout or limits. As I had encountered more travel inconvenience more than anything (especially baggage delay), I figure I should just buy the travel insurance with DirectAsia as it is much cheaper.

Anyway, just to share my experience. In summary, premium is affordable, coverage is probably adequate for common events, and the service is professional.; August 19, 2010 3:29 AM
Jas' scribbles said...: My first travel insurance claim with DirectAsia for baggage delay was futile as the policy does not cover for baggage delay with scheduled destination back to Singapore (only for baggage delay happens in overseas). This is really a major put-off as baggage delay tops the list of travel inconveniences.

As such, I lost confidence on this company as there are minimum benefits with their so-called 'competitive' pricing. I'd rather insure with more reputable company such as Aviva as they are aggresive too they offer on-line package at competitive pricing.

The only positive comment I'd give is their customer service representatives who are courteous and patience. Company as new as DirectAsia (less than 1 year), it is not surprising that 'new broom sweeps clean'.; January 31, 2011 12:25 PM
DirectAsia.com said...: Hi there, I thought I'd just add that DirectAsia.com now provide Car, Low Mileage Car, Motorcycle, Travel, Home and Personal Accident insurance in Singapore.

The Hong Kong website also launched recently for those in HK. www.directasia.com.hk; May 30, 2012 3:50 PM