Hi,
I own both life insurance policies purchased via agents and via direct purchase (DPI).
The biggest difference would be price. As expected, DPI is cheaper than agency insurance (non-DPI) with the same term and coverage. You may compare the premium amount (DPI vs non-DPI) for your age/gender/coverage at comparefirst.sg. This website is an initiative by MAS so it's completely safe.
There will not be any agents servicing you for DPI. You are on your own to interpret the jargons and terms.
If you intend to add on a Critical Illness rider (highly recommended), do take note that DPI only covers 30 types of critical illnesses while non-DPI covers 37 types. The extra 7 are quite rare, but isn't the purpose of insurance to cover unexpected events?
If you intend to get a whole life plan, non-DPI allows multipliers, say if your coverage is 100k, you may have a 4X multiplier - 400k coverage until age 65 (or 70/75/80) and 100k for the rest of your life. DPI plans (AFAIK) do not have this feature.
Based on my observation (did some homework recently as I wanted to increase my coverage), there are quite some promotions by various insurers for non-DPI plans, and I have never seen any for DPI. For my own case, the premium is still higher for non-DPI (after discount) vs DPI. I don't think non-DPI will be cheaper than DPI even with the discount, but the difference could be small to make it worthwhile to have a servicing agent.
If you have never spoken to a financial planner/agent before, I suggest you speak to one. It would be good to buy your first plan via an agent to understand the coverage/jargons/terms. Once you understand how it works, you can then go with DPI when you require more coverage (jump in salary/married/have kids etc).
Hi,
I own both life insurance policies purchased via agents and via direct purchase (DPI).
The biggest difference would be price. As expected, DPI is cheaper than agency insurance (non-DPI) with the same term and coverage. You may compare the premium amount (DPI vs non-DPI) for your age/gender/coverage at comparefirst.sg. This website is an initiative by MAS so it's completely safe.
There will not be any agents servicing you for DPI. You are on your own to interpret the jargons and terms.
If you intend to add on a Critical Illness rider (highly recommended), do take note that DPI only covers 30 types of critical illnesses while non-DPI covers 37 types. The extra 7 are quite rare, but isn't the purpose of insurance to cover unexpected events?
If you intend to get a whole life plan, non-DPI allows multipliers, say if your coverage is 100k, you may have a 4X multiplier - 400k coverage until age 65 (or 70/75/80) and 100k for the rest of your life. DPI plans (AFAIK) do not have this feature.
Based on my observation (did some homework recently as I wanted to increase my coverage), there are quite some promotions by various insurers for non-DPI plans, and I have never seen any for DPI. For my own case, the premium is still higher for non-DPI (after discount) vs DPI. I don't think non-DPI will be cheaper than DPI even with the discount, but the difference could be small to make it worthwhile to have a servicing agent.
If you have never spoken to a financial planner/agent before, I suggest you speak to one. It would be good to buy your first plan via an agent to understand the coverage/jargons/terms. Once you understand how it works, you can then go with DPI when you require more coverage (jump in salary/married/have kids etc).