When you’re a savvy shopper however dislike having to take care of insurance coverage brokers who attempt to laborious promote or affect you in direction of getting sure merchandise that aren’t nice for you and your loved ones, then try Planner Bee. Except for permitting you to handle your (and your loved ones’s) insurance coverage insurance policies multi functional place, it affords a brand new mannequin of shopping for insurance coverage – the place you and your wants come first, and the agent servicing comes solely on the finish AFTER you’ve made your determination. Can expertise take away the commissions bias that’s inherent within the business? I’m definitely hopeful, however you may learn on to resolve for your self!
You understand what you need to purchase, and head on-line to match quotes on varied on-line aggregators. Then, you uncover that you just’ve run into a number of points:
- Most on-line aggregators supply quotes from solely a restricted variety of insurers, or product varieties (e.g. pet insurance coverage isn’t frequent, only some portals have it)
- When you know what you need, you want to converse with somebody to ask questions and make clear your issues earlier than you commit, particularly to a long-term plan like life or medical insurance
- You attempt to name up your insurance coverage agent pal for it, solely to understand that they’re unable to get you quotes from insurers like AIA, Nice Japanese or Prudential.
- Typically, your agent is unavailable and doesn’t reply…which makes you surprise, what is going to occur if you want them throughout claims then? Who do you go to in the event that they’re the one contact you have got for that coverage?
The state of the insurance coverage market right now
The insurance coverage business is fraught with conflicts of curiosity, which regularly signifies that shoppers have little to no clue as as to if their insurance coverage agent is recommending them one of the best coverage that meets their wants, or one that’s higher for the agent’s earnings. From totally different commissions charges abroad journeys for pushing sure merchandise, these incentive buildings are sometimes not made recognized to the patron, making it even more durable for them to evaluate what is actually driving their agent’s suggestions.
I’ve met dozens of insurance coverage brokers, and most fail to actually impress me sufficient to earn my belief. For those who do, I’ve stored them shut through the years, utilizing their suggestions as a second (generally third) opinion to assist validate whether or not my determination is right.
The tell-tale indicators often seem when your agent is fast to suggest you entire life insurance coverage, investment-linked plans (ILPs) or endowment insurance policies spanning over 20 or 30 years. It’s a incontrovertible fact that time period life insurance coverage is a much more cost-effective technique to defend in opposition to mortality for many shoppers*, whereas investment-linked plans with their excessive charges will hardly enable you to beat the market and most endowment plans have barely stored up with market returns.
*See a case examine of when the opposite argument (entire life over time period life) would possibly maintain true right here, akin to when somebody does NOT need to purchase time period and make investments the remaining.
After my latest article about how insurance coverage brokers are compensated in Singapore, the group at Planner Bee reached out to me to share their answer to this drawback. As an award-winning fintech app helmed by a group from insurance coverage and wealth administration backgrounds, Planner Bee was designed to assist shoppers make knowledgeable selections based mostly on their wants relatively than an agent’s commissions.
And the reality is, except your insurance coverage wants are complicated, you is likely to be higher off planning for your self, as a way to remove all these potential conflicts of curiosity within the first place! That is what I’ve personally completed for the final decade, and I like to recommend that you just take possession of managing your individual insurance coverage insurance policies for your self on this method too.
However as a DIY insurance coverage planner, the place do you go to make sure that you’re heading in the right direction?
Discover and handle your insurance coverage insurance policies in a single place
Enter Planner Bee, a cell private monetary device designed by Singaporeans to cater particularly to the wants of insurance coverage consumers right here. Powered by their very own proprietary engine, the app’s dashboard was additionally among the many first in Singapore to supply customers a one-stop overview of their varied insurance coverage insurance policies throughout a number of insurers.
You should use it to handle not simply your individual insurance policies, but in addition that of your loved ones. In a single look, you’ll be capable of observe:
- What plans you (and your loved ones) have
- The protection supplied by every, and in complete
- The premiums and renewal (cost) dates for every coverage
I beforehand really useful the Autumn app for this objective to lots of you, however after Normal Chartered Financial institution determined to place the brakes on that mission earlier this yr, I’ve been searching for another answer – and located it in Planner Bee.
As soon as I had manually keyed within the particulars of my insurance policies (and my complete household’s), I might now see and handle all of them inside the app.
And with instruments akin to an insurance coverage wants calculator, you’ll be guided on determining the overall insurance coverage protection you want and whether or not your present insurance policies adequately defend you.
As soon as what gaps it is advisable fill, you may then navigate their market to match throughout insurers and insurance policies. Planner Bee sources merchandise and quotes from throughout 29 insurers in a single place, which saves you effort and time because you not want to go to a number of suppliers individually. Whether or not you want a private accident plan or a maternity cowl, it is possible for you to to match the advantages throughout totally different plans and insurers in a single view.
As the prices of premiums for a similar plan differ at totally different instances based mostly on the insurers’ reductions, your age and gender, it’s usually troublesome for shoppers to match simply. Even brokers from FAs that distribute merchandise from a number of insurers could have a troublesome time getting these quotes for you, since insurers akin to Nice Japanese and Prudential usually don’t open up distribution channels with these companies with a view to defend their very own tied brokers.
You will get round this by requesting for a personalised quote from Planner Bee; merely submit your particulars, sum of protection wanted and your annual price range for premiums.
Powered by its proprietary advice engine, you can even enter your insurance coverage wants and let the Planner Bee platform make personalised and brand-agnostic insurance coverage solutions for you, making it simpler so that you can discover the appropriate coverage with out bias.
Which means that whether or not you’re searching for medical insurance to cowl medical prices or life insurance coverage for household safety, Planner Bee brings the whole lot beneath one roof, making it a simple, one-stop store to your insurance coverage wants.
Are you able to belief Planner Bee?
Planner Bee was based by Ms. Cherie Wang, who’s an authorized Chartered Monetary Advisor (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) who has ranked within the high 5% of economic advisors globally for greater than 10 years.
However regardless of her achievements, Cherie acknowledged a persistent flaw within the system: many monetary advisors in Singapore usually function based mostly on commissions, which creates potential conflicts of curiosity. One other problem she confronted was that whereas working in an company, she and her colleagues didn’t all the time have entry to one of the best merchandise inside their distribution community to supply to purchasers.
Many consumers additionally sought her assist in managing their complete portfolios, together with insurance policies she didn’t have direct entry to. With over 20 insurers in Singapore, manually evaluating merchandise throughout the board every time was impractical, and it grew to become evident that her purchasers wanted a extra clear and environment friendly technique to handle their insurance coverage portfolios.
This realisation drove her to work on Planner Bee, which was based with 2 most important objectives:
- To assist individuals handle their total funds in a single place.
- To offer an unbiased platform for needs-based monetary product comparability.
As their group isn’t affiliated with any insurance coverage firm, their purpose is to help you in planning and buying insurance policies from a number of insurers with none bias or desire in direction of a specific firm.
Right now, Planner Bee combines the comfort of a market with monetary calculators, an academic library, and personalised steerage from licensed advisors that can assist you get lined with confidence. The monetary planning device now connects to 42 monetary establishments so you may consolidate your banking transactions, insurance coverage insurance policies, and funding portfolios multi functional place.
Tip: Bear in mind to all the time ask your advisor for his or her MAS Consultant Quantity, so you may examine that they're licensed to deal with your case. Planner Bee offers these to the patron, upon request.
In contrast to aggregators that merely checklist insurance coverage merchandise, Planner Bee goes one step additional to offer instruments to assist DIY customers consider their very own insurance coverage wants and affords personalised quotations based mostly on these wants.
Your premiums are the identical when shopping for by means of Planner Bee or straight from the insurance coverage suppliers.
And do you have to ever really feel caught or confused, you can even choose to seek the advice of a human advisor by means of their on-line session characteristic.
The app additionally categorises your insurance coverage insurance policies for you, so that you keep in mind what you’ve purchased and have already got lined. It additionally reminds you (by way of e mail and WhatsApp) when your renewal dates are nearing, so that you don’t have to fret about any insurance policies lapsing!
How Planner Bee solves for conflicts of curiosity
As a substitute of leaving the suggestions as much as particular person insurance coverage brokers, who might every push for various insurance policies for various causes, Planner Bee opts for a mannequin the place your quotations offered are pushed by the client’s necessities relatively than which insurer is at the moment paying the very best commissions for closing or giving an incentive journey on.
How does expertise take away the bias? Most citation programs right now require a human agent to key in particulars and choose the coverage that they want to get quotes for. In distinction, the citation programs at Planner Bee doesn't take note of commissions (because it doesn't have the data within the system within the first place for it to be biased), and offers quotations solely based mostly on buyer’s necessities, price range and advantages or wants.
To present you full visibility and management over your decisions, Planner Bee’s citation system kinds insurance policies by its profit options and premium charges. This primarily guidelines out any biases which may favour insurance policies delivering larger commissions, serving to to make sure that clients are getting one of the best worth for his or her cash.
Get your questions on any coverage answered by scheduling a Zoom name, or ship messages by way of WhatsApp to debate the offered quotations. When you’ve determined to buy, a video name (by way of Zoom) will probably be organized with a salaried licensed advisor, who will clarify the phrases and situations and confirm if the insurance policies chosen really match your wants, so you should purchase with a peace of thoughts.
Who ought to use Planner Bee?
When you already handle your individual insurance coverage insurance policies and also you’re merely searching for quotes and help with out having to take care of an agent laborious promoting you, then you’ll love the Planner Bee expertise.
You get full management over your individual shopping for expertise with out the affect of any agent bias, but nonetheless have entry to ask the Planner Bee group if it is advisable make clear any phrases or issues on the insurance policies you’re inspecting.
Except for its trendy digital insurance coverage planning interface for shoppers, a core good thing about Planner Bee is that it affords entry to over 500 insurance coverage merchandise throughout 29 insurers.
That is laborious – or near unimaginable – for many brokers or companies to copy. It’s a well-known truth that you would be able to solely get Prudential insurance policies from a Prudential agent, as an illustration, which is why most on-line comparability portals or aggregators are usually not capable of pull quotes for you from a model with solely tied brokers both.
No tied agent or impartial monetary advisory group has entry to that many, nor can a single human go for enough product coaching on to grow to be an professional in so many various merchandise. That’s the reason Planner Bee pulls from the power of their group as one, with totally different individuals specialising in their very own strengths, model(s) or product portfolio. They mix the information and expertise to information the expertise interface and quotations, however the licensed advisor is barely assigned on the finish after the patron has determined which product or insurer they want to go together with.
So if you happen to’re snug with utilizing on-line instruments and need to save effort and time evaluating insurance policies from varied insurers, the app affords a seamless means so that you can handle your well being and life insurance coverage wants – not only for your self, however to your complete household.
You should use their insurance coverage wants calculator or the cell app to analyse your present protection:
However whereas savvy insurance coverage consumers will discover the app and instruments helpful, Planner Bee will probably be much less appropriate for people who find themselves clueless on their insurance coverage wants, or if you happen to’re uncertain on even the sort and performance that every insurance coverage coverage performs in our life.
In such a situation, you’ll in all probability be higher off with an in-person session with an insurance coverage agent, who can sit down to teach you and advise you based mostly on their suggestions.
Sponsored Message from Planner Bee:
purchase insurance coverage by way of Planner Bee
One of the best ways to make use of Planner Bee could be to gauge your individual monetary wants first and examine to see which coverage’s advantages would serve you greatest.
Then, get a personalised quote by way of their on-line kind which you’ll obtain by way of e mail.
When you want, chances are you’ll request for an obligation-free session on-line or by way of a telephone name to run by means of the totally different choices.
When you’ve determined in your alternative of plan, you may apply for a scheduled name to undergo any questions you have got and e-sign the digital kinds to use for the insurance policies that you just want.
As soon as your plan is permitted, you’ll get a affirmation from the Planner Bee group by way of e mail and WhatsApp.
Within the occasion that it is advisable make any claims, you may merely attain out to the identical WhatsApp quantity or e mail to your comfort, and their devoted customer support group will help you together with your claims or servicing issues.
Take a look at Planner Bee for your self right here.
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- Built-in Defend plans: $50 cashback to your first yr premium
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Reductions legitimate inside the subsequent 12 months.
Disclosure: This submit was written in partnership with Planner Bee Pte Ltd.
