I highly recommend travel insurance when you go traveling. I used to skip purchasing travel insurance until I fell and injured myself in Sydney. Ever since then, I purchase travel insurance for myself and my girlfriend everytime we go traveling. And we were lucky to have bought it when we went to Thailand as our luggage was lost in transit. You can read about it here which teaches you the process of reporting and claiming lost luggage.
In this article, I would like to compare the different travel insurance plans in Malaysia that can be purchased online. To compare apple to apple, below are the details I put in to search for the quotations:
- Single trip
- 2 adults
- Japan
- Mar 1 to Mar 31
You can click on the links below to jump straight to the specific insurance provider.
TL;DR – skip to Conclusion
AIG
AIG (American International Group) has 3 travel insurance plans which are Basic, Standard, and Deluxe.
Even though Basic is the cheapest, it does not cover travel cancellation, delay (travel nor baggage), and personal effects.
You can also scroll here to have an overview of the differences between the 3 packages. You can also switch the button at the top to switch to the comparison for family plans.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet/ Brochure
Allianz
For Allianz it is very straightforward as you don’t need to choose any plans after keying in the required info.
The price is RM272 for 2 person and you can choose to add on the following:
- Sports insurance coverage (RM63 per person)
- High altitude mountaineering (RM450 per person for adult between 18-40, RM900 per person for adult between 41-60)
- Domestic coverage (RM27 per person)
For sports insurance coverage, you might want to add on if you are doing any high risk sports which includes mountaineering up to 3500 meters. You will be insured with the following:
For mountaineering above 3,500m and up to 5,500m, you will need to choose this instead of the add on above.
Lastly, for Worldwide or Asia plans, Malaysia (domestic) is not included so you might want to add on this.
Although Allianz Travel Easy travel insurance has only 1 option, it has a wide coverage with reasonable insured amount. Besides that, the add on options are especially good for those doing high risk sports.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet/ Brochure
AXA
AXA has only 2 options – classic and VIP. If you have been reading from the top, classic is similar to AIG’s basic where it doesn’t cover travel delay/cancellation and personal effects. Therefore, VIP is the recommended option here.
In a nutshell comparison:
By breakdowns:
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Chubb
Chubb (formerly ACE Jerneh) has 3 options for their travel insurance which are – Premium, Executive, and First.
The company has a comprehensive page which lists down all the coverage in details which helps to compare the 3 travel insurance plans which you can visit here.
For Chubb, even the basic Premium has an extensive coverage. Besides that, you have the option to add on coverage for cruise at a minimal cost. If you are playing golfs during your travel, do take First as it also covers for golfs.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Etiqa
Etiqa offers 2 travel insurance plans which are TripCare 360 Takaful and TripCare 360 Insurance. The 2 plans can be further categorized into Silver, Gold, and Platinum options.
Both plans have the same options and costs as below. The price is before 25% discount and is for 1 individual.
The summary of benefits for each options as below:
The basic silver has a good coverage but it lacks trip cancellation and curtailment. In addition, it also does not cover personal money and travel documents. Depending on your need, it can be sufficient or you can choose Gold instead for the mentioned items.
Besides that, you can also add on Adventurous activity cover to your travel insurance with a minimal premium which covers the following sports.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet (TripCare 360 Takaful)/ Product Disclosure Sheet (TripCare 360 Insurance)
Kurnia
Kurnia’s Travel Supreme plan has 2 options which are Plan A and Plan B. Perhaps the team wants to be different than the other competitors thus no fancy names were given to the options.
Anyways, below is the price for 1 individual.
For the full itemized benefits, you may refer to Plan A or Plan B.
Despite the non fancy name, the basic Plan A has a wide coverage which is sufficient for most travelers. With just an additional top up of RM19 to Plan B, you can get more higher coverage which seems to worth the price.
However, do take note that the plans offered by Kurnia are underwritten by AmGeneral Insurance Berhad.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Lonpac
Lonpac has 2 options for their Travel ezSecure travel insurance which are Basic and Premier. The price below shows for 1 individual only.
The Basic option only covers for Personal Accident, Medical, Emergency Medical, and Personal Liability. Therefore, the Premier option seems to be the better choice with just an additional of RM30.75.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
MSIG
MSIG (Mitsui Sumimoto Insurance Group) offers 2 travel insurance plans with simple name just like Kurnia which are Plan 1 and Plan 2.
The plans below are for 1 individual only.
And once again, even though the name is plain, but both plans have wide coverage. The only difference between the 2 plans is that Plan 2 covers higher amount than Plan 1. Besides that, both MSIG travel insurance plans also covers for high-risk activities as stated in Section 19.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Sompo
Sompo offers 3 options for their travel insurance which are Lite, Basic, and Elite.
Although Lite seems to cover less items compared to Basic, but it has a higher price tag. The only 2 things that Lite covers but is not covered by Basic are Hospital Allowance and Travel Delay. However, both Lite and Basic do not cover the items in Section D – Travel Inconveniences (except Travel Delay for Lite). Therefore, I would suggest to go for Elite although it comes with a higher price tag.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Takaful Malaysia
Takaful Malaysia offers 3 plans for their Takaful myClick Travel PA travel insurance which are Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
The prices below are for 1 person only.
The above screenshots are basic overview of their coverage and amount. They have the comprehensive table for comparison here. The basic Bronze covers extensive items which is sufficient for most travelers. However, it is recommended to go for Silver which covers higher amount with just an additional RM22. If you rent a car or plays golf during your travel, Silver and Gold also covers for these as well.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Tokio Marine
Tokio Marine provide 2 plans for their Tokio Marine Explorer travel insurance which are P100 (basic plan) and P325 (standard plan).
The price below is for 1 individual.
Tokio Marine has a table for easy comparison between the plans here. In the fact sheet there is a P500 plan but is not offered under the drop down button in the selection of plans phase. The P100 basic plan does not cover a lot of items that P325 does which includes hospital allowances and travel cancellation/curtailment. However, surprisingly even the P100 covers for golf equipment as well.
I would recommend going for the P325 standard plan by topping up RM33. Besides that, this plan covers for car rental as well. In addition, you can add on premium for extreme activities. However, I can’t find this option in the selection phase.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Tune Protect
Tune Protect also offers 1 plan only for their travel insurance which is similar to Allianz.
The price below is for 1 individual only.
Tune Protect has a full list of items that is covered by their travel insurance here in table format. It covers most, if not all of the basic items which includes trip cancellation and curtailment.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
More options for travel insurance
There are several companies that provide travel insurance as well such as QBE, Prudential, and Great Eastern etc. However, you cannot buy via online for the mentioned companies (for Great Eastern it can be done via online but after I key in the info it keeps showing error and I can’t proceed). Therefore, if you have an agent that is servicing you for these companies, you can check with them. However, buying online is generally cheaper as the insurance companies usually rebate the agency commission to you.
Banks offer travel insurance as well
Besides the insurance providers as above, banks also offers travel insurance. However, most of them leads back to the insurance providers above. For example, if you go to Maybank website to get quotation, you will end up at Etiqa website with the same price and options. Same goes to Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) which goes back to AIG’s website.
However, some banks give you special promo or discount by purchasing through them.
CIMB x Sompo
CIMB gives you RM10 off the stamp duty when you pay with CIMB cards or CIMB Clicks.
However, if you key in the same details, the results come out differently. Firstly, the Lite option is not there if you compared to purchasing directly from Sompo website. Besides that, Basic costs RM90 instead of RM77.50 while Elite costs RM196 instead of RM157. However, the product disclosure sheet is the same as Sompo meaning the benefits are the same.
Besides CIMB, Standard Chartered also has promotion as below where you can get Grab vouchers if you purchase the travel insurance from them.
Standard Chartered x Allianz
However, if you key in the same details as Allianz, you will find that the cost is RM300 instead of RM272. But for the price difference of RM28, you will get RM80 Grab vouchers which is a good deal.
UOB x Liberty Insurance
UOB’s travel insurance is underwritten by Liberty Insurance. It has only 1 option like Allianz and Tune Protect. The price below is for 1 individual only.
It has a wide coverage which includes travel cancellation and curtailment.
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
OCBC x Great Eastern
Although I had trouble getting quotation directly from Great Eastern website, but I have no trouble getting it via OCBC. However, do take note that OCBC’s plan is TravelMate while the one I tried to access via Great Eastern website is Great Voyager travel insurance.
Great Eastern offers 2 plans for their travel insurance which are Value Plan and Signature Plan. The price below is for 1 person only.
Both travel insurance plans cover extensively but with just an additional RM20, you get insured for a higher sum which is worthy. In addition, you can add on 5 benefits to your insurance plan if needed:
- Medical extension (RM10 for both plans)
- Golfer’s cover (RM100 for Value, RM60.50 for Signature. Same coverage amount but not sure why Value is more expensive)
- Adventurous activities cover (RM75.50 for both plans)
- Personal liability & rental car excess cover (RM12 for both plans)
- Home contents benefit (RM29 for both plans)
Website/ Product Disclosure Sheet
Hong Leong Bank x MSIG
For Hong Leong Bank, it has the same travel insurance plans and benefits as per MSIG. Here is the summary table on HLB website. Besides that, it has the same product disclosure sheet. However, compared to the other banks, you get the quotation and purchase directly from HLB website so you would need to have their account.
The price above is for 1 individual only. Just like the other banks, the price is higher (the price is actually the same for MSIG and HLB, but MSIG has 25% rebate).
RHB Insurance
RHB Group has their own insurance arm but it cannot be purchased online. For more info, you may visit here.
Citibank x AXA
You will be landed to AXA website to get quotation for the travel insurance. However, I’ve been having trouble getting the quotation but if I go directly to AXA website it is ok. You may try it here. However, both AXA and Citibank have the same plans and coverage which you can refer here.
Affin Bank x AXA
Just like Citibank, I have trouble getting quotation from this link. However, the plans are the same with AXA.
Alliance Bank x Zurich
Both cannot be purchased online. However, you may read about it here.
Airlines also offer travel insurance
When you purchase flight tickets, there are usually options to add on insurance. Below are some of the samples and their underwriting insurance provider.
- Malaysia Airlines x Etiqa
- Firefly x AIG
- Airasia x Tune Protect
- Singapore Airlines x AIG
- Scoot x AXA
- Emirates x AIG
- Qantas x Lloyd
Conclusion
Now that we have gone through all the travel insurance plans, it’s the headache moment to pick the one that is suitable. Let’s take a look at the prices based on the details below:
- Single trip
- 2 adults
- Japan
- Mar 1 to Mar 31
| Insurance provider | Basic | Standard | Extensive |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIG | 150 | 220 | 380 |
| Allianz | 262 | ||
| AXA | 86 | 196 | |
| Chubb | 214 | 248 | 366 |
| Etiqa | 148.20 | 241.60 | 319.60 |
| Kurnia | 124 | 162 | |
| Lonpac | 175.50 | 237 | |
| MSIG | 182 | 274 | |
| OCBC x Great Eastern | 162 | 202 | |
| Sompo | 104 | 100 | 206 |
| Takaful Malaysia | 98.66 | 157.32 | 192 |
| Tokio Marine | 112 | 200 | |
| Tune Protect | 166 | ||
| UOB x Liberty Insurance | 140 |
Do take note that the prices above are gross prices, meaning it does not take into consideration of 25% discount (if applicable) and RM10 stamp duty.
Based on the table above, UOB x Liberty Insurance has the cheapest Extensive plan followed by Kurnia and Tune Protect. Therefore, if we were to rank solely based on price, then below are the options:
- Cheapest of all plans – AXA Classic plan (Basic)
- Standard plan – Sompo Basic plan
- Extensive plan – UOB x Liberty Insurance
However, we should also take into consideration of the things that are being insured. I have shortlisted the 3 most important items:
- Medical expenses in overseas + follow-up treatment in Malaysia
- Travel cancellation and curtailment
- Loss of luggage/money/travel documents/credit card
Based on the criteria above, all 3 of the cheapest Extension plans do include the above with the only Exception that UOB x Liberty Insurance does not cover the follow-up treatment in Malaysia. Therefore, in terms of pricing and coverage, the ranking would be as follow:
However, claiming process is also an important consideration. The easier and faster you can get a claim when something happens the better. But, let’s hope there is no need to claim it though. I’ve tried claiming from AXA once and the claiming process is not a pleasant experience. You can read about it here.
In addition, here are some notable mentions:
- Chubb is the only company that has Cruise add-on
- Allianz, Etiqa, MSIG, OCBC x Great Eastern, Tokio Marine covers/add on for extreme activities
- AXA, Kurnia, MSIG, Takaful Malaysia, Tokio Marine covers for car rental
- Chubb, OCBC x Great Eastern, Takaful Malaysia, Tokio Marine, Tune Protect covers/add on for golf equipments
If you have any pleasant/unpleasant experience getting a claim, please feel free to share in the comments section below.
