Etiqa Travel Insurance Singapore Review 2018

August 8, 2018

When you think travel insurance, you definitely don’t think of Etiqa. For the uninitiated, Etiqa is Malaysian bank Maybank’s insurance arm, and it’s a relatively new player in this field. Which explains why Etiqa travel insurance is one of the cheapest travel insurance options in Singapore. It’s cheap because it’s unknown.

But as much as everyone loves cheap travel insurance, nobody wants to end up with a lao hong plan that doesn’t cover anything, right? So let’s find out if Etiqa travel insurance is any good.

Etiqa travel insurance at a glance

Etiqa travel insurance is sold under the Etiqa eProtect Travel brand and it comes in 3 tiers:

Travel insurance plan	Basic	Economy	Business
Price for 1 week (ASEAN)	$36.50	$54	$72.94
Price for 1 week (Asia)	$40.59	$66	$88.88
Price for 1 week (worldwide)	$61	$91.63	$134.20
Promotion	Currently 51% off single-trip plans
Medical expenses (overseas)	$200,000	$500,000	$1,000,000
Emergency medical evacuation	$1,500,000	$1,500,000	$1,500,000
Personal accident (death & TPD)	$200,000	$300,000	$400,000
Travel delay ($50 every 3 hours)	$300	$500	$800
Trip cancellation	$5,000	$10,000	$15,000
Baggage delay ($100 every 6 hours)	$200	$200	$200
Baggage loss/damage	$2,000	$3,000	$5,000
Adventure activities covered?	Yes	Yes	Yes

Etiqa travel insurance promotion

Etiqa has two ongoing promotions which result in dirt cheap prices:

The 51% off single trip insurance puts the total damage for a week’s worth of coverage in ASEAN at just $18.25. This is an amazing price because the market rate for basic plans is closer to $25. At under $20, this is quite a steal.

Even better, buy your travel insurance on a Friday to get an extra 10% off as part of their ongoing TEIF (Thank Etiqa It’s Friday) sale. You can also use the promo code AUGTEIF but I’m not sure if it’s only valid on Fridays.

Etiqa travel insurance promotions are updated on the main eProtect Travel page.

Of course, Etiqa loses that competitive pricing edge once you take away the generous promotions… so let’s hope the promos are here to stay.

What does Etiqa travel insurance cover?

I can’t help but have low expectations of cheap products like Etiqa travel insurance, but surprisingly, even their cheapest plan checks out.

The medical and emergency coverage look pretty good. Personally I feel that the basic plan is already quite sufficient as $200,000 and $1.5mil are comfortable limits for medical expenses and evacuation respectively.

Etiqa travel insurance is a good one for outdoorsy types and adventure junkies as quite a range of leisure outdoor activities are covered. (There’s nothing I hate more than seeing a long list of activity exclusions hidden in size 6 font in the policy wording.)

Outdoor activity	Covered by Etiqa?
Hot air balloon	Yes
Scuba diving	Yes
Skiing and other ice/snow sports	Yes
Hiking or trekking	Yes (up to 3,000m)
Mountaineering or outdoor rock climbing	No
Marathons or other competitions	Yes (but not ultramarathons, biathlons, triathlons)
Jet skiing	Not stated
White water rafting	Not stated
Skydiving	Yes
Paragliding, hang gliding or parachuting	Yes
Bungee jumping	Yes

Where Etiqa travel insurance falls short is the payouts for travel delays and inconveniences. It pays out $100 for every 6 hours of baggage delay whereas other brands pay out $200, and the coverage limits are also lower than others.

Maybe it’s their way of keeping prices down by trying to prevent Singaporeans from gaming the system.

Etiqa travel insurance claim procedure

Emergency hotline: Call the Allianz Global Assistance emergency assistance hotline at +65 6327 2215 (Allianz is Etiqa’s emergency support provider)

Online claims: Fill in and submit documents through the Etiqa travel claim form here.

Hard copy claims: You can download a claim form from the offline forms download centre and mail with supporting documents to Etiqa Insurance Pte Ltd, One Raffles Quay, #22-01 North Tower, Singapore 048583.

Things to note: You can opt to open a TiqConnect e-wallet for faster claims turnaround. Etiqa claims that their travel claims can be processed and paid as quickly as one day through this instant payment service, as opposed to a cheque which takes 2 to 4 weeks.

Conclusion: should you buy Etiqa travel insurance?

If you’re like me – a budget traveller who love the outdoors – Etiqa travel insurance is a great fit. It’s cheap, covers pretty much every adventure activity, and the emergency assistance and medical coverage benefits are solid.

As a bonus, the purchasing and claims experiences are fast and easy. The super-fast claims settlement via e-wallet is also an awesome innovation that I wish more insurance companies would take up. (It’s 2018, and there are still some insurers that only accept claims by snail mail!)

By the way, big families travelling together will appreciate the fact that Etiqa’s family plans cover up to 8(!) children. “Children” even encompasses young adults up to 25 years old as long as they are full-time tertiary students in Singapore.

However, Etiqa travel insurance is NOT for you if you’re more of a princess who just. cannot. deal. with flight delays and disappearing luggage. The benefits in this aspect are very poor. Maybe try fly carry-on only with this one.

Looking to buy Etiqa travel insurance? Compare all Singapore travel insurance policies by price and coverage first.

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