The premium "revision", in case you didn't notice, is only a suggestion, regardless of what insurance agents say. So you can choose to follow/disregard, or you can decide to make a big lump sum contribution later in your life to so called top up the "buffer" in the investment portion. The latter is my plan, as currently my investment portion is already bigger than my life assured notional (I just use it as a gauge: ie the surrender value of my plan is greater than my life assured).
So I just continue paying the usual monthly payment via auto-debit to my CC.

Now for the premium revision, it is on a pool basis (the specific medical plan you are on) and not supposed to target any individual person of the pool. The pricing is based on the pool.

(this part is just the devil in me thinking. There are other ways to target you: like rejecting you when you get hospitalized by claiming all sorts of story. So there is no reason logically to target extra 100 rm premium from just you to improve profit. This part is all conjecture on my part and I brought it up just for casual discussion).

PRUBSN already sent notification for premium increase..i think this is the 3rd time since i took the plan in 2011.

2011 - RM 200
2018 - RM 215
2021 - RM 251
2023 - RM 278

Tell u insurance is a loss-proof business

This post has been edited by gogocan: Aug 31 2023, 07:38 AM

Afaik some insurance does not force premium increase but Prudential definitely does.

Ofcourse lah where got business lose one

You're spot on.

So this is applicable across the industry.
Here's how it works:
When you buy a medical plan, there are different levels/tiers to it right?
So that's how these plans are separated into blocks.
Plan A - one block
Plan B - one block
So on and so forth.

In short, those that buy Plan A, claim from Block A.
those that buy Plan B, claim from Block B.
Naturally, Plans A, B, C will be more popular compared to Plans D, E & F.
Also naturally, members of Plans D, E & F have access to overall better things in life, it usually shows in their health.
I eat the most popular potato chips, they eat organic kale chips lightly salted with Himalayan pink and black salt, of a brand that will never appear in my life.
So when Blocks ABC claim until 7788 d, would it make sense to raise the pool reserves for Blocks ABC?
How do you think they raise the pool reserves for Blocks ABC?
By taking from Blocks DEF?
Cannot mah...

Maybe make some claims regularly?
So it becomes more "worth it"

My PRU premium also increase to RM368 starting next month..thinking of switching a cheaper plan as it is too burdensome for me

You can consider reviewing your existing plan and see what the best alternatives are.

I have this old traditional basic life insurance policy which I bot during my first job in 2002. Monthly premium is around RM50plus. The sum assured is only RM30k. Latest I have checked if I surrender the policy now, I will get back RM17k to move into other investment channel which can give like 5-7% p.a.

Even if I surrender this policy, I still have other life insurance and I think the sum assured is big enough to protect my family.

Do you think I should keep this old policy or surrender it to move to better investment? Anyone knows the advantage of traditional policy vs investment link policy?

Please engage the Life Planner that sold you the other life insurance with a sum assured that you think is big enough to protect your family.

He/she will be the best person to give you a definite answer if the FHC is done right.

Whether beneficial or not to surrender can only be determined once you have your financial assessed.

Traditional policy and investment-linked policy are two different types of insurance policies offered in Malaysia.

Traditional policies, also known as conventional policies, provide a combination of insurance coverage and savings. Premiums paid by the policyholder go towards both the cost of insurance and an investment component. The insurance company manages the investments, and the policyholder receives a guaranteed sum assured and possibly some bonuses over time.

Investment-linked policies, on the other hand, are a form of life insurance where the premium paid is primarily invested in a selection of investment funds chosen by the policyholder. The value of the policy is linked to the performance of these funds, and there is no guaranteed sum assured. The policyholder takes on more risk, but also has the potential for higher returns based on the performance of the chosen funds.

Both types of policies have their pros and cons, and the choice between them depends on an individual's financial goals, risk tolerance, and preferences. Traditional policies offer more stability and guarantees, while investment-linked policies offer potential for higher returns but also come with more risk. It's important to carefully evaluate your needs and consult with a financial advisor before making a decision.

Keep in mind if you switch to cheaper plan, your coverage also decrease.

My opinion just go for it. Withdraw it and dump into EPF. If you want more returns, use s&p500. If you engage a agent, see if they try to upsell you more products. Haha...

For example, assuming i'm the same profile as you (age, gender, etc) and we bought the exact same coverage, paying the same exact premium.

The difference is probably you skip about 3 months premium whereas i'm have been paying on time every month.

Insurance company do not penalise you. When they increase the price for the medical card (for ILP policies), what they mean is they increase the insurance charge. you and i will be charged the same insurance charge. but you MAY need to pay a higher premium than me due to your missed payment as they are required by BNM to ensure the premium you pay is enough to last until maturity. BUT we both have to pay higher premium anyway.

ILP Quick 101

How ILP works is every month (or year or whatever frequency) you pay a fixed amount of premium. some of the premium you pay will be taken by the insurance company to pay for expenses, the rest will go into your investment account value. Every month, the insurance company deduct insurance charge to pay for the insurance coverage you have selected. As long as you have investment account value to deduct insurance charge, you will have your insurance coverage active.

Insurance charge increase as you age, but the premium you pay is the same every month. this is because in the earlier years, you pay abit more, so your investment account value has the savings and buffer to cater for higher insurance charge in future. but this buffer is based on an assumption by the insurance company (with some supervision from BNM on how the insurance company determine this i hope, i'm not from BNM, but i trust BNM with consumer protection job)

BUT in reality, investment return are rarely as expected AND due to medical inflation, the insurance charges will increase to a higher level than what was expected. Hence you will be expected to pay more premium in the future due to this reason.


both are of you are not wrong but not right either. the problem with super high plan is, not many of them actually buy those super high plan and small sample size. i'm not an expert anyway, i also get 2nd hand information.

anyway, it really depends on what the insurance company decided to practice eventually. they do have to answer to bank negara, so dont think they will simply do this. they have to justify whatever the scenario is to bank negara. it's actually quite a complicated and painful process for the insurance companies themselves.

one thing is for sure, if you and i buy the same plan (and we are same age gender), we will get the same increase

We (my spouse and i) analysed our own policy mathematically. If we continue paying what's the return? If we stop paying, what's the return. So when we did this on our old ING policy, we calculated that, our return was around 4%++ to 5%. The return does not sound great and we are aware of this. During covid it make sense to keep it. Now that interest rate has risen... we are still keeping for now. we use this as a defensive strategy, somewhat equivalent to FD. if indeed one day AIA decide to reduce the bonus or interest, we will re-assess and surrender if we deem the return too low. so whether to keep or not, it's really hard to advice without knowing the numbers.

This post has been edited by adele123: Sep 2 2023, 04:34 PM

Hi, I have a great Eastern policy that I want to terminate. What's the easiest way to do that without involving the agent?

Agent will be notified when you submit your termination.

You can walk in to their office to submit your request

Hi all, would like to seek some advice on my following situation:

1. I have a 7-year old medical card insurance policy. Monthly payment RM275, investment value now around RM10,000. So far the plan is quite good, high coverage amount and cover most of the things.

2. But I recently just started new job in a company. The company got provide medical insurance also, and the plan is also very good coverage and even include for family members.

3. So my question is.. should I cancel my personal medical insurance? BUT even if I cancel, I plan to save the existing investment value RM10,000 and continue monthly own-self save/invest the RM275. My plan is IF after 3-5 years I no longer work in the company and lose the insurance, then I can get a new personal insurance plan using the money saved.

Does this makes sense? Will I be losing out in terms of any value or coverage benefit if I cancel the existing policy and then get a new one after 3-5 years?
The only thing I can foresee losing in the current personal plan is the yearly booster amount, where every year my annual coverage will auto increase by 5% or something like that.

Another option is to downgrade the existing medical plan, but I'm not sure if this is something allowed? Mine is AIA btw.

This post has been edited by zigot14: Sep 2 2023, 08:26 PM

Short answer is no, you should not be cancelling your personal insurance. One should always have their own personal insurance. If you lose your job, you will end up without any coverage. Bear in mind that if you are diagnosed with any illness as you age, it will be very difficult for you to get any coverage at that time.

Recommended to keep your existing as your employment can always change their insurance anytime. You don't want to be caught without an insurance during any transition

Like what others said, you should always have your own personal medical insurance, as it is 2020s and job security is basically a figment of one's imagination.

Now what you can do to liberate/cash out the 10K rm is to get a new medical card first from another provider (pick what features you want but I suggest keeping at least all the old features/limits the same or higher)... once that medical card is effective, you can terminate the 7-year old policy and invest the 10K rm yourself.

However, there is a small risk of your new card not covering your condition that is discovered between now till the effective date of the card (I don't remember the term of the period... something like waiting period etc).

If it was me, for the 10K rm, I don't think it is worth the hassle or risk. I won't do what I suggested above.

adele123 I saw from their announcement and their pdf file. That's how I know the higher tier plan not affected.

1. New insurance will always be better.
2. If you are healthy and no illness, yes you can always buy new and better insurance.
3. Keep in mind company insurance is for as long as you are employed. If you are no longer employed, you can kiss your insurance good bye.
4. Keep in mind when you buy new insurance, there's like waiting period 2-3 years then you can use insurance which means you are generally not covered until you pass the 2-3 years. Officially it's 2 years. Unofficially it's like 3 years.
5. If you want cheap premium you can always find insurance with highest deductible like RM20k. That kind of insurance premium is cheap.
6. Alternatively use gathercare.

I'm 33 this year, no past heath issue, non smoker
Thinking to buy life insurance that covers next 20 year. How much roughly for 1m policy?