The way I look at this is , either you buy the extra medical coverage NOW or after 55,  you got to pay the same kind of rate when you reach 55.  It doesn't mean that the premium you pay now will stay when you reach 55, isnt the MC premium usually tier rated?  yes ? no?  So, this isn't really a drawback imo..

hi Optiplex330,

this is not entirely true at all. if you buy a medical insurance early (as early as you can actually!) and you have a guaranteed renewal, no loading, no exlcusions policy you have made the best possible choice. if sickness strikes, no matter how hard, you will have an insurance to cover for you. this is the principle of insurance. if you wait until something happens, such risks are becoming bad risks - noone will insure them and you will have to fork it out for yourself.

insurance is not about getting money back. dont confuse this please. it's a common misconception in malaysia that an insurance should make you money. this not at all the case! let me explain to you what the purpose of an insurance is:

if you cancel your present medical policy to switch to a new one, the new policy will asses your risk at the current situation - not at the situation when you first signed up and were (possible) more healthy. so when age increases, you will find it harder to find an insurer willing to take over your risk without loadings / exclusions etc. esp. if you made claims in the past. if you are still healthy, there is no problem with switching at all - you can even apply for a takeover so the waiting periods will be mostly or entirely waived. i have switchted three times in the past without any hassle but this is because we were and are still in good health and young.
if you wait until you are 55 you might get yourself into trouble. it wont be as easy to get cover as with age 1. for that reason you should stay away from lifetime limits and only seek annual limits (with an implied lifetime limit of limit*years of insurance possible). otherwise once your limit is eaten up, you are in trouble too. such life time limit policies are only usefull as top-up for extra expensive risks.

hope i was clear and not too confusing

Optiplex330,

in that case apply for the new company and request a take over. take overs are "encouraged" by bank negara. take over means your waiting period will be waived. otherwise you need to account for an initial overlap between the policies to ensure you are covered. for example a take over might be refused if the benefits are significantly better. in that case get the waiting periods from the company. for this duration you will need your old policy so you need to time the purchase properly.

other than that you dont loose anything as you would with life. you are perfectly save to switch assuming your health is the same. i would get the approval from new insurer first before i decide not to renew the old insurance.

mind sharing what company you want to switch to?

yes assuming axa does not want to impose any loading or exclusions on you you can simply switch the policy. this is the advantage of a general insurance product. unlike like with rider you are not bound. the premiums are per age band and no old age savings to couchon the increasing premiums are beeing made that you might loose. so you loose absolutely nothing.

Optiplex330,

i just want to highlight one important difference when it comes to medical insurance:

if you are under a guaranteed / no loading / no exclusions plan there is a benefit to remain once sickness strikes. you still get the low premiums that everyone else gets while new companies will put loadings and / or exclusions upon you. also when you are in the renewal only part of the insurance you wont be able to switch anymore.

regarding your question of old age savings: this does not exist in malaysian policies. in europe many health plans work like this: despite the insurer beeing able to offer very low premiums for healthy people, they ask you to pay more. this extra is then saved and will be used to offset your premiums in old age. the catch: its not easy to move these savings from one company to another so they can effectively lock you in through this measure.

with respect to the rider and you beeing bound: what i mean is that if you buy an ILP product (i.e. life with medical rider) you are commiting to a significan savings plan. if you later decide to switch companies and you want to cancel the plan, you have to cancel the entire policy. this usually means you are loosing out. also you are commiting a larger part of resources this way which might be harder to come up with in old age when premiums might very well be 1000 RM per month or more for an adequate cover.

if you go to axa the medical info will depend on your age and wether it will be treated as a takeover or not. in most cases a health declaration will do. make sure to disclose any little detail you can think of. if you remain silent about it, the insurer might be able to cancel the entire policy at a later date due to misrepresentation of facts.
usually listing everything will mean no harm - they might just ask you to clarify in order to avoid an exclusion.

i suggest you call AXA and let them know you want tho switch under takeover from your current prudential plan. they will advise you further. please note that if the benefits are significantly better than your current plan, your switch might not be considerred a takeover and waiting periods will apply.

on a sidenote: the agent comission for health insurance is high. i believe its 15% of your annual premium every year. if you find an agent to split comission with or go as a walk-in you can save a significant part of the premiums. AXA does not offer a walk-in discount so you need to find an agent to split comission with. (i am still looking for an agent to split the comission with for my tokio marine plan!)

personally i always try to get the agent comission as a walk-in. if they refuse, i look for an alternative insurance. if none exists, i look for an agent to split comission with. otherwise i still go direct as this means the company is saving money and if everyone would do this this would mean that premiums can remain lower for a longer period of time. (no offence agents, i know some of you do a good job in helping with claims but not everyone needs this help. most insurers will also help you if you know your rights. if you are of the kind who accepts anything an insurer tells you, then its better to seek the help of an agent for claims....)

Optiplex330,

first of yes, you are in a bit of a problem. the good part is the minimal value of the life insurance. i understand it's already nine years old. i am not sure how much you have already saved but in the current situation its likely that the savings part is worth now only 60-40% of what you initially paid into. ending the entire policy would thus lead to a significant loss.

i am not sure if you can cancel just the rider. your agent should be able to help you there. what you are facing is the main reason why i suggest not to use ILP for medical cover.

from my point of view option one and two dont make a lot of difference  since you are not forced to materialise paper-losses. i.e. you can wait until the funds rise in value again. if you deem the performance good then you can continue to invest further.

it is very hard to say what is the best solution for you right now. one would have to look into the contract to see where exactly the money is going to. we would also have to consider agent comissions when looking at options and what alternative investments are at your disposal. at the end of the day the question would be: how do you profit more - stop paying, just canceling the rider or even cancel the entire policy (most likely not a good idea). then we take into account moneys freed in the process and apply an alternative investment (you could for example buy the same funds through the bank). then you can make an unbiased decision just based on optimising your future funds.

how much are you paying right now for the plan and do you know the current distribution of the money into the three parts?

FIrst of all, I would like to confirm with you, is your plan name is Prulink Assurance Plan? If yes the following answer is applicable for you.

1. You can adjust your benefits in your policy. So, you are able to take away the medical benefits. Premium is also adjustable.

2. From your annual limit, I believe you are having PMM3 as your medical card. Which lifetime limit is 3 times of the annual limit. If you plan to switch to AXA, you will need to consider another top up policy for the outpatient treatment.

3. You can also choose to upgrade your medical card from PMM3 to other Prudential newer medical card. Which is
- PMM5 - lifetime limit is 10 times of annual limit
- PruHealth - currently it does not support upgrade from existing plan yet.

4. You can always check with your agent for the amount of cash value/number of units in your policy. We have a system to view this.

5. If you plan to cancel the policy, now is not a good time as the unit price is low after the economy crisis.

If you need anymore explanation on Prudential product, feel free to ask here or PM me.