From 1 June 08, all motor accidents have to be reported to the insurance company within 24 hours of occurrence or by next working day. The insurers will do the rest, from arranging for a replacement vehicle to making third-party claims. Should you fail to report promptly to your insurer, your claims may be prejudiced or even declined by your insurer. There is a penalty of deduction of 10% on the No Claim Discount (NCD) upon renewal of your policy. Even if you are new driver with no NCD given, you may not be awarded NCD in the subsequent years.

You should also report to the police within 24 hours if

1. There is a damage to a government vehicle or property.
2. It involves a foreign-registered vehicle.
3. It involves a foreign-registered vehicle.
4. It involves a hit-and-run incident. 

In case of accident, you should

1. Exchange particulars of involved parties including Name, NRIC/FIN, Telephone Number, Address and Insurer. Take note of the vehicle numbers and take digital photographs of the accident vehicles and accident scene. You can send the digital photos via MMS to 97112758 on the vehicle number and date of accident in the format is <vehicle number>, <DDMMYY>.
2. Call your insurer’s hotline for a tow truck or for further advice on the accident. Avoid all  unauthorized tow-truck operators or repair workshops.
3. Report and bring your accident vehicle (whether damaged or not) to the approved reporting centre/authorized workshop within 24 hours or by next working day. The centre/workshop will help to fill up the Singapore Accident Statement forms.

This move is seen by many to be effective to tackle the inflated claim by the motor car workshop. In simple cases, lawyers wil be kept out of the disputes as far as possible to contain the cost. Furthermore, non-injury motor claims disputes below $1,000 will now be addressed out of court - by the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec).

So let's hope that motor premium will come down amidst the relentless inflation in the commodities prices.

Useful Contact Number
AIG 24-Hour Hotline : 63386200
AXA 24-Hour Hotline : 1800-8804741
NTUC Income 24-Hour Hotline : 67886616 

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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Web : www.aboutfinancialplanning.net

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From 1 Dec 08, Singaporean can expect their big hospital bill in B2/C wards to be covered by MediShield Scheme by up to 80%, up from the current 60% cap. This of course, comes with increase in premium, from less than $1 to $40 per month increase in premium. The new premium is shown in the table below.

The annual Medisave withdrawal limit will be raised to $1,150 for policyholders who are above 80 years old, while it still remains at $800 for the rest of the policyholders. Also, the Government will also be topping up the Medisave accounts in September 08 for those above 50 years old, which range from $150 to $550. The enhanced coverage for MediShield can be found at MOH website here.

The above is definitely good news for those policyholders who has pre-existing illness covered by MediSheild originally, but not by their enhanced Medisave-approved private Shield Plan.

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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Singapore National LIFE Long Income Scheme, CPF LIFE, is a new scheme that will provide lifelong income for citizens from age 65 onwards. This annuity scheme will be implemented in year 2013 for those who are age 50 and below in 2008. Citizens will need to set aside Minimum Sum (MS) in their CPF Retirement Account when they reach 55 years old. The MS can be made up all in cash, or part cash and part property, with the property forming up to 50% of MS. Part of this MS will be used to pay for the CPF LIFE premium at age 55.

There are twelve options available for CPF LIFE as shown below:

With effect from 1 April 2008, Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA) replaces the Workmen's Compensation Act (WCA). The current scope only covers manual workers and non-manual workers earning less than $1,600 per month. The scope isnowwidened to cover non-manuals workers earning above $1,600 per month. Though buying insurance for this group of workers is not compulsary, employer is still liable for the compensation if a valid claim arises. The minimum and maximum to the claim for death and Permanent Incapacity for all workders are as follows:

So it makes sense for employer to purchase insurance for all workers to transfer the risk to insurers.

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There are twelve options for you to choose from, Refund 65, 70, 75, 80, 85 and 90 and the corresponding 6 No-Refund options. So which option is better?

One thing to note is that while the amount in the CPF Minimum Sum attracts at least 3.5% interest, the remaining amount from the CPF Retirement Account that is used to pay for the National Annuity Scheme, CPF Life, does not give out any interest! So if you choose Refund 65 with all CPF Minimum Sum used to pay for CPF Life, your family will get the same amount, without interest, if you pass on before age 65.

So you may be better off to keep most of your money in Retirement Account as the CPF Minimum Sum and use only small portion of it to pay for the CPF Life. You get the best of both world, a guaranteed income for life and yet attract interest from the major part of your money in Retirement Account.

So probably the standard Refund 80 is a good choice for most people.

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From April 2008, medisave can be used for outpatient treatments such as asthma and scans for cancer. These are the newly added chronic illness added from high blood pressue, cholesterol, diabetes and stroke. The maximum withdrawal is also increased to $600 per annum.

Some of the costs can be defrayed from private enhanced shield plan, if the medicine and diagnosis are within the 90 days pre- and post-hospitalisaton.

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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Prior to July 2005, MediShield only covers 40% of big hospital bill, and was increased to 60% since then. Soon, the coverage will be increased to 80%, with increase of $120 annual premium for most adults. This may seem alot, but if the premium is paid from Medisave, which in turn can save you thousands of dollars from hospital bills, this is really worth it.

 Currently, 60% of Singaporeans have upgraded their medical plan to enhanced private schemes. These schemes provides very comprehensive coverage for lifetime, up to 100% coverage in hospital bill, and even provide for hospital cash benefits. So if your medisave has enough to pay for the slightly higher premium from private insurers, switch now! Supplemnet it with rider that covers the co-insurance that mediShield does not offer, it will set your mind in peace in case there is a need for hospitalisation.  

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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Means testing will be implemented for class B2 and C ward! So if you are covered under the basic Medishield that entitles you to stay in class B2 and C ward, upgrade now to a Medisave-approved private integrated plans. These private plans are normally for Class B1 and above, and hence not affected by means testing.

Currently, the subsidy for Class B2 and C wards are 65% and 80%. So if you don't belong to the 'poor' category, the subsidy that you will get is up to 50% and 65% respectively.

Get a well-covered Shield plan so that Medisave is used to pay for the annual premiums and not the medical fees and co-insurance. Inflation for medical cost is rising at an incredible rate, so the 'As-Charged' feature from the private Shield plan will shield you from the rising medical cost.

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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Do you have any other savings besides your CPF? Are they enough? A lot of Singaporean thought that CPF savings is enough to see them through retirement, including one of my family member.

The real fact is, CPF is not enough for your retirement expenditure! It may provide about 25% of the retirement needs. And much less if you are using your CPF for housing loan and children education loan! So, start a good savings habit by investing regularly a fixed sum of money. You will be pleasantly surprised that a $200 savings per month at age 23 will yield about $0.5million when you turn 60 years old, assuming the rate of returns of 8% per annum.

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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More than half Singapore Citizens have upgraded their basic MediShield plan to the more comprehensive hospitalisation plan offered by private insurers! Are you one of them? Have you done so? If not, it is time for you to take immediate action.

MediShield imposed a sub-limit for each item, yearly claim limit is lower ad it only covers till age 85. This is a far cry from the private shield plans.  These Medisave-approved private integrated plans cover up to $500,000 a year but has no lifetime claim limit and the coverage is also for lifetime!

 Most importantly, it is a small premium to pay for such a great coverage and peace of mind.  Read more about Health Insurance.

Ginny Lim Gek Eng
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