FWD Travel Insurance Singapore Review 2018

As a typical cheapo Sinkie, I must confess to buying travel insurance from FWD purely because it’s one of the cheapest insurance providers in Singapore. OK lah, obviously it’s cheap because FWD is relatively new (<2 years old) and unknown. Let’s see if it’s really worth it to buy FWD travel insurance.

 

FWD Travel Insurance Price and Coverage

Travel insurance plan	FWD Premium	FWD Business	FWD First
Price for one week in…	ASEAN: $25 Asia: $27 Worldwide: $42	ASEAN: $34 Asia: $42 Worldwide: $54	ASEAN: $44 Asia: $53 Worldwide: $73
Promotion	Currently 20% off with promo code Travel20
Medical expenses (overseas)	$200,000	$500,000	$1,000,000
Emergency medical evacuation	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Personal accident (death & TPD)	$100,000	$200,000	$300,000
Travel delay ($100 every 6 hours)	$300	$500	$1,000
Trip cancellation	$7,500	$10,000	$15,000
Baggage delay ($200 every 6 hours)	$200	$600	$1,000
Baggage loss/damage	$3,000	$5,000	$7,500
Adventure activities covered?	Yes

 

FWD travel insurance price comparison

FWD is definitely one of the affordable brands and their prices are often competitive with ongoing promos (always use MoneySmart’s travel insurance wizard to get the cheapest rates!) particularly if you’re travelling beyond Southeast Asia. I mean, $27 for a week’s coverage in expensive countries like Australia and New Zealand is really quite a steal.

 

FWD travel insurance coverage comparison

One of the best things about FWD is that they automatically cover activities like scuba diving, rock climbing and skydiving. Considering that such outdoor activities are covered, their Premium plan is good value-for-money. For example, emergency evacuation is unlimited even with the basic plan.

For a basic plan, FWD Premium has a pretty high trip cancellation claim limit of $7,500 (which applies for haze-related cancellation or infectious diseases like Zika and dengue too).

Where FWD loses out is in the below-average travel inconvenience benefits. For example, for travel delays, you get $300 limit on delays, another $300 for missed connections and another $500 for “diversions”. It is very hard to claim the full benefit. I can only assume it’s a measure against people over-claiming for non-critical inconveniences and bleeding insurance companies dry.

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

 

How to make FWD travel insurance claims

Emergency hotline: Call the FWD emergency assistance hotline at +65 6322 2072

WhatsApp claims: You can do a WhatsApp claim for travel delay or baggage delay. Send the message “I’ve a claim” to FWD Claims at +65 9128 8552. You can then WhatsApp photos of your documents.

Online claims: Log on to FWD’s Customer Portal or just fill in this form and upload the supporting documents online.

Hard copy claims: For medical expenses and baggage loss/damage, you have to complete the online claims procedure and then mail your documents to FWD Singapore Pte Ltd (Claims Team), 6 Temasek Boulevard #18-01, Suntec Tower 4, Singapore 038986.

Things to note: Claims must be made within 30 days of the event or incident. Refer to FWD’s claims guide for what documents to submit for each type of claim.

FWD will follow up to acknowledge your claim within 2 working days. They’re also known to settle claims with little hassle.

 

Summary: Pros & cons of buying travel insurance with FWD

PRO: Value-for-money travel insurance, especially beyond ASEAN. The basic FWD Premium plans are good value, especially for Asia and worldwide.

PRO: Automatic coverage for outdoor adventure activities. Unlike some other insurance companies claim to protect you on your travels, but sneakily classify all your planned activities as “dangerous” and therefore excluded.

PRO: Smooth experience for insurance purchase & claims. Maybe I have the attention span of a millennial, but when I buy insurance from FWD I don’t find it horribly tedious. I appreciate that the whole user experience is mobile-optimised, fast and relatively painless. Plus, you can make claims through WhatsApp!

PRO: Good trip cancellation coverage. Because the world is full of threats to your imminent holiday. FWD Premium has an above-average benefit for trip cancellations, even if it’s due to a Zika outbreak or haze. (But not if your boss asks you to cancel leave to work on a last-minute project.)

CON: Poor benefits for travel inconveniences. For some people, the low limits on travel and baggage delays, and the trouble you have to go through for claiming losses, are a major dealbreaker. If you’re travelling with expensive or important items, FWD definitely doesn’t offer enough coverage.

 

Have you ever bought travel insurance from FWD? Share your experiences with us in the comments.

Tags: Travel Insurance