I do not think the insurer would want to play such a trick to be honest. But you may write them to get clarification.

Anyhow, from AXA policy wording this is what I understood and hence I stand on the fact that this policy has no loading based on previous claim experience , no matter current policy year or previous policy year.

Extracts :
6. Period of Cover and Renewal
This Policy shall become effective as of the date stated in the
Schedule. The Policy Anniversary shall be one (1) year after the
effective date and annually thereafter. On each such anniversary,
this Policy is renewable at the premium rates in effect at that time
and any change in the renewal premium shall be notified by writing
at least thirty (30) days before change is effected. It shall not be
incumbent on the Company to give notice that any premium for
renewal is due and such premium shall be deemed to be due date
on which the Policy expires and must be paid within thirty (30) days
thereafter. However, during such thirty (30) days the Company shall
remain liable thereunder if by the last of such days the premium is
actually paid unless the Company or the Insured Person shall have
given notice that the Insurance would not be renewed.

This Policy will be renewable at the option of Policyholder subject to
the terms, conditions and termination at each of the anniversary of
the Policy date. The renewal premiums payable will increase with
age and is not guaranteed. The Company reserves the right to revise
the premium rate applicable at the time of renewal. Such changes, if
any shall be applicable to all Policyholders irrespective of their claim
experience according to the Company’s risk assessment.

That is applicable for Smartcare policy? What about Medical Care Rider? it is totally different right?

that bolded part they are refering to the policy wide premium changes. it never said anything about individual loading.

---

Added on March 22, 2011, 4:44 pmit should be different, thought i'm not 100% positive. you'll have to buy their life insurance to qualify for that rider medical.

This post has been edited by rockets: Mar 22 2011, 04:44 PM

when they decide to load you, that means it is a change in premium. And I could always argue that your premium rate changes shall not refer back to my claim experience.. Anyway best is to get a B&W from Axa, not down to me to make assumption i suppose.

i agree, we're just pretty much guessing here. i'm just very careful about insurance companies because i've seen many cases of claims and renewal gone bad because of some little words in the B&W which they can use against you.

compare with GE medical card, which is better ? i know GE medical card is expensive, but AXA Affin is still new in the market

you guys are overinterpreting. the FAQ is just a FAQ and not legally binding. the policy wording is.
AXA SCO has no individual loading. no matter if you claim 500k last year or 0 RM.

renewal is guaranteed once they accept you. i.e. while you choose to renew they cant refuse you. also they cant charge extra. a lot of other companies actually reserve the right to to either load or refuse renewal (for example MSIG). so one has to be carefull. you can probably get a statement from AXA underwriting if you so wish which states the above. call CS and ask for it but there really is little need for it since the policy wording is pretty clear on this.

of course each and everyone should always read every little word and make sure they understand all the conditions and the fine print. sadly many agents are of little help with those things (many have very little understanding of them themself at least the ones i had the pleasure talking too...)

you need to be clear about the problems of the policy you take and see if there are options to overcome them.

personally the AXA & TM combo (both max plans) gives you the most extensive coverage in the market while charging very competive premiums.

if money is of little relevance i suggest you explore either lighthouse asia or allianz worldwide care. those are far more extensive plans which will pay no questions asked. i have been with allianz worldwide care for almost 10 years with some significant claims for pregnancy (post & antenatal) and ceasarian for my wife and never had any issues. they actually tried to pay the caesarian twice
for those among you with foreign links there are options to get european insurance plans from germany and france that will cover you head-to-toe (including specs, teeth, health checks, pychotherapy, home nursing and whatnot) with limits and truely limitless (no annual, per sickness or lifetime limit) but you will have to prepared to bleed badly. a truely limitless head-to-toe inpatient & outpatient policy will set you back around 800 RM per month (!) when your around 25 and it wil easily be around 3000 RM ++ monthly when you are 65 [i cant afford that!].

So can we conclude that even though AXA Affin is new in the market but the privileges are different from other medical card in town. I believe it is a proper medical card as well as there is no limitation to the annual coverage (except for cancer and dialysis).

AXA is a huge general insurance player with a european background. SCO is sold across SEA (singapore, hongkong and some other places) and i would very assume they did their homework. from all the insurances in the market their 500k p.a. cover in combination with a touch up plan to cover possible spikes, OP cancer and dialysis it is (in my book) the best option in the market considering long run costs of insurance (i.e. from 25 to age 80). H&S is afterall not a one shot thing but a longterm affair.

Taking a AXA Affin 500K plan wand for cancer and dialysis treatment what other option should i look for? What other insurance package?

Please advice.

Thanks

umapathy,

i like the axa plan because it has very few restrictions (i.e. very wide coverage of cancers etc.). all you need is to have a burstable cover in case AXA is not sufficient. there are some top-up plans around in the market (i.e. plans with a high deductable i.e. 10 or 20k) that way you can insure the shortcomings of the plan. i liked Tokio Marine's plan best (despite the fact that I am not content with their CS). You can venture around the available plans and single out the one that suits you best. you can look into RHB Medisure (with deductable up to 20k = save up to 60% premiums), TM Medic Plus, Pacific medi-major, Berjaya B.Health Major, Allianz EB MediShield Plus, you could even use AXA SCO with deductable option as burstable insurance and choose another one as the primary H&S plan. mix and match gives multiple options otherwise not available.

But one thing makes me wonder the same package if i compare with ING or Prudential or any other insurance companies, the price is higher. May I know why there are variance in prices whereas the coverage is the same. The only thing is the name.

Please advice.

Thanks

many reasons come to mind: different risk structure = different expected loss rate different costs for management, advertisement, higher internal profit rate, less strict claims handling, etc etc.

also bear in mind: covering 500k max is cheaper to cover per $-coverage than 50k since lower claims are simply more likely to occur than high claims.

AXAs policy is different from ING and PRU - look carefully. most policies are - among other reasons to prevent buyers from having an easy comparison (which would mean all buy from the cheapest provider cause cover the same). you need to figure out the differences and what they personally are worth to you - only then can you find the cheapest cover for yourself.

once again: my personal opinion is that AXA with a top-up is currently one of the best options for higher-end H&S plans.

i think part of the reason why PRU and ING are expensive is because their outpatient treatment for cancer/kidneys are As Charged.

Thanks PJUsa for the fine explanation.

What makes you think that there are high risks a lot of people would be diagnozed with cancer/kidney problem?

Is the ratio very high compare to other sickness like BP or diabetes?

no two plans are identical if their premium is far from similar... Surely there is an area where they distinguish themselves and hence demand a higher premium...

but it's better to have good cover for those, no? no matter the odds. cause if you do strike any of these it could bankrupt you and you'd just wait to die.

diabetes is actually one of the top causes for kidney failures in case you didn't know.

as for cancer, "In 2007 cancer caused about 13% of all human deaths worldwide (7.9 million)". that's from wiki.

trust me, if you want a good insurance you'd want one that has good cover these two. or you could get a top up like what PJusa did.

Agreed with your fact. Regardless of cancer and dialysis treatment, I still say that AXA Affin medical card is the best with its unique feature. Other medical cards have annual claim plus lifetime max claim but AXA Affin's medical card you can claim yearly. That is a great portion. For cancer treatment, we just have to add up from other insurance company like what PJusa said.

I believe with this combination it is the best in town.

I sincereley believe other insurance companies will follow this scheme in the future.

Moreover other insurance company medical card is expensive compare to AXA Afiin's card.

and don't forget, if you are already covered by a decent company medical plan, you may opt for deductable plan in SCO which is cheaper by a large percentage compares to a full plan.

happy shopping.

How much cheaper it gets when i apply for SCO plan?