After my pay cut and my wife losing her job, my finances are really tight and I am unable to pay for my insurance monthly now. Should I surrender my policy?

Hi anon,

Many insurers have options to defer premium payments. You can apply for a deferment. If the policies are still relevant to your needs, I would recommend you keep them.

An annoucement from MAS states this:

" Individuals with life and health insurance policies may apply to their insurer to defer premium payments for up to six months while maintaining insurance coverage during this period. Premium deferment is available for all individual life and health insurance policies with a policy renewal or premium due date between 1 April and 30 September 2020. This measure supplements existing premium relief options available to policyholders, such as taking up a premium loan against the policy cash value or converting to a paid-up policy by reducing the sum assured. "

Speak to your advisor to see how you can apply for premium deferment, or even take up a premium loan if you need to.

Speak to your consultant and ask for options regarding your premium payments. There will be a few options available depending on the type of policy you have.

Surrendering would imply that it has cash value, and there will be an option to use the cash value to pay for the premiums instead, as well as to lower the sum assured for a lower monthly premium.

You can restructure the plan such that you switch to a short term plan if cash flow is really right. But there would be advantages and disadvantages to doing so.