Which early critical illness plan is the most competitive in the market? Will the coverage be impacted severely by the new definition in Aug?

There isn't really a "best ECI" policy in the market because everyone has different priorities on varying factors; like price, coverage, payment term, type of policy.

You should instead find out what is more suitable based on your personality and financial situation. Some people prefer to BTIR and go for the lowest cost policy, some people want cash value even though it costs more. You should discuss your needs with an advisor you feel comfortable with and trust.

From what I understand, definitions will be more clear cut so there will be less contention in terms of whether things will be claimable or not. However, some grey area CI wordings may not be admissible as before which would make it seem "stricter" and "severely impacted".

The best ECI policy would be the one bought yesterday than the one you are thinking of buying today or tomorrow.

Hi anon,

If you are referring to early critical illness, it is important to note that there is no standardized definition for that at the moment. I'm also guessing you are referring to a limited payment life plan? This is usually a cost effective way to cover early critical illness. For purposes of answering you the best I can, I will take it that you are referring to a limmited payment life plan.

Only severe stage critical illness will be impacted, and in this aspect, all insurers have to adopt the new definitions after a certain cut off point. MINDEF Aviva group term living care rider is already following the new definitions as an example.

In terms of competitiveness, you have to see what criteria matters to you. Some insurers are quite no frills. They cover all standard LIA critical illness for early, intermediate and late. This is the very minimum I would suggest you look at. Some insurers have added conditions which they might term as critical illness, but while some of them might indeed be life threatening, such as Ebola, the reality is that no one in Singapore has ever gotten Ebola in the last 10 years as far as I know (and probably never ever). Thus we need to also distinguish between what is truly CI, and what are added conditions, that while good to have coverage for, isn't under the standard LIA list, not is it very common in Singapore.

If you are referring to the number of covered conditions, I would say China Taiping has one of the most covered conditions in the market. If you are referring to the premiums, China Taiping is also pretty competitive on this. However, this is not a recommendation of China Taiping at any rate, as we don't know enough of your profile and situation to make a recommendation. There is no perfect plan, only a suitable one. A majority of clients I have worked with also take up Aviva plans too, as there are features between various plans to differentiate themselves (else it would be a price war)