OCBC travel insurance is a top choice for Singaporeans who are risk-averse and prefer to insure themselves with longstanding brands – it is provided by Great Eastern, the insurance arm of OCBC.
However, is it really worth staying within your comfort zone? As familiar as you might be with a product, it is just as important to know how it compares against the offerings from other travel insurance providers. Let’s take a deep dive into the nitty gritty that you probably have glazed over in the past.
Contents
- OCBC Travel Insurance: Summary
- OCBC Travel Insurance: Coverage
- OCBC Travel Insurance Promotion
- OCBC Travel Insurance Covid-19 Coverage
- OCBC 365 Card Travel Insurance
- OCBC Travel Insurance: Extreme Sports
- OCBC Travel Insurance Claims Review
- Should I buy OCBC Travel Insurance?
1. OCBC Travel Insurance: Summary
OCBC travel insurance is sold under the OCBC Explorer brand, but as mentioned, it’s provided by Great Eastern Insurance Singapore. Like most other insurance providers, OCBC Explorer’s travel insurance coverage is offered in 3 tiers:
- the Starter plan (basic coverage)
- the Essential plan (enhanced coverage)
- the Ultimate plan (most comprehensive coverage)
A key difference between the 3 plans besides the price and coverage is the extension of Covid-19 coverage. Covid-19 coverage is only extended to the Essential and Ultimate plans. If you opt for the Starter plan, Covid-19 coverage is excluded.
Let’s delve deeper into the different plans, their coverage, and see how they stack up.
2. OCBC Travel Insurance: Coverage
OCBC Explorer has divided its insurance premiums into 2 regions:
- Area 1: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam.
- Area 2: Worldwide, including countries in Area 1.
As you might already know, the area of travel affects the cost of the travel insurance policies. Let’s dive deeper into the coverage, claim limits, and key benefits:
| OCBC Explorer Travel Insurance | Starter | Essential | Ultimate |
| Price (Area 1) | $54/week | $70/week | $103/week |
| Price (Area 2) | $78/week | $91/week | $138/week |
| Medical Expenses (Overseas) | $300,000 | $500,000 | $700,000 |
| Emergency Medical Evacuation | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Personal Accident (Death & TPD) | $150,000 | $300,000 | $500,000 |
| Trip cancellation | $5,000 | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| Baggage loss | $3,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Outdoor Adventure | No | No | Yes |
| Covid-19 | No | Yes | Yes |
So, how do OCBC Explorer’s plans fair? As mentioned earlier, one major drawback of the OCBC Explorer’s Starter plan is the lack of Covid-19 coverage. It’s not available even as an add-on. Given that Miss Rona is still raging rampant, we strongly advise against travelling without Covid-19 coverage.
Assuming that you’ll be purchasing an Essential plan at the very least, you can expect to pay between $70-$138 per week depending on your travel destination. OCBC’s Explorer’s Ultimate plan, with the most comprehensive coverage (including Covid-19 coverage), is definitely one of the cheapest plans you will find in Singapore.
For comparison, let’s have a look at some of the other affordable travel insurance premiums in Singapore:
Comparison of OCBC travel insurance prices vs other travel insurance providers:
- OCBC Explorer Travel Insurance: $70 to $138 per week
- Tiq by Etiqa Travel Insurance: $39 to $106 per week + $18 to $63 per week add-on for Covid-19 coverage = $57 to $169 per week
- FWD Travel Insurance: $25 to $73 per week + $20.60 to $34.04 per week add-on for Covid-19 coverage = $45.60 to $107.04 per week
- AIG travel insurance: $48 to $132 per week
- Sompo Travel Insurance: $52 to $132 per week
Coverage wise, OCBC Explorer’s Essential and Ultimate plans deliver good coverage for key things such as medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, and personal accident death. With an overseas medical expenses coverage limit of $700,000 for its Ultimate plan, OCBC Explorer is higher than of Sompo’s $400,000 and AIG’s $200,000.
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Total Premium
S$22.50
- Med. Coverage (Overseas)
- S$200,000
- Travel Cancelation
- S$5,000
- Loss/Damage of Baggage
- S$2,000
- Total PremiumTotal Premium
S$4550% Off - S$22.50
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Enjoy 50% off Single Trip and 80% off COVID-19 add-on Annual Trip. Discounts valid till 31 Dec 2024. T&Cs apply
Get S$30 Revolut cash reward with every policy purchased. T&Cs apply.
PLUS, score S$100 Revolut cash reward in our giveaway on top of existing rewards. T&Cs apply.
Total Premium
S$64
- Med. Coverage (Overseas)
- S$200,000
- Trip Cancellation
- S$5,000
- Loss/Damage of Baggage
- S$1,000
- Total Premium
- S$64
3. OCBC Travel Insurance Promotion
OCBC also runs near-constant promotions to keep its premiums competitive. Usually you can get around 50% off single trip plans.The current OCBC travel insurance promotion gives you 35% off Essential and Ultimate single trip plans.
The discounted prices (under promotion) are as follows:
| OCBC Explorer Travel Insurance | Starter | Essential | Ultimate |
| Price (Area 1) | $35.10/week | $45.50/week | $66.95/week |
| Price (Area 2) | $50.70/week | $59.15/week | $89.70/week |
On top of that, OCBC is also offering a $20 HealthPass Wellness Store voucher to offset fitness packages, health screenings, and more on the HealthPass by OCBC app when you purchase OCBC Explorer travel insurance. The promo is valid till 31 July 2022.
Rather generous with its promotions, OCBC also has a pre-departure swab test promo at selected clinics for $110. However with pre-departure swab test requirements lifted in most countries, this might not longer be of much relevance.
You can keep track of the latest OCBC travel insurance promotions here.
4. OCBC Travel Insurance Covid-19 Coverage
OCBC Explorer’s Essential and Ultimate plans automatically include Covid-19 coverage. Let’s see how it stacks up:
| OCBC Explorer Covid-19 Coverage | Starter | Essential | Ultimate |
| Overseas Medical Expenses | – | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| Overseas Hospitalisation Cash Benefit | – | $50/day (max $700) | $100/day (max $1,400) |
| Overseas Quarantine Cash Benefit | – | $50/day (max $700) | $100/day (max $1,400) |
| Emergency Medical Evacuation | – | $50,000 | $150,000 |
| Trip Cancellation | – | $3,000 | $5,000 |
| Trip Curtailment | – | $1,500 | $2,500 |
OCBC Explorer’s Covid-19 coverage is comprehensive but only if you opt for the Ultimate plan. The Essential plan’s coverage limit for overseas medical expenses and emergency medical evacuation is only a measly $50,000 respectively.
With OCBC Explorer’s travel insurance plans, you get what you pay for. Fork out a little bit more and you will get adequate coverage. With that being said, bear in mind that OCBC Explorer’s Ultimate travel insurance plan is still on the affordable end.
The other great thing about OCBC Explorer’s Covid-19 cover is their automatic extension policy. This means that if you were hospitalised or quarantined due to Covid-19 while you’re overseas, your period of insurance will be extended for up to 30 days at no extra cost. This applies to both the Essential and Ultimate plans.
5. OCBC 365 Card Travel Insurance
In the past, like several other banks, OCBC provided free travel insurance as a perk of selected credit cards like the OCBC 365 credit card. However, It’s not the case anymore but quite honestly, you’re not missing out on much. With an overseas medical expenses claim capped at $500, the coverage was shockingly low anyway. It’s the insurance equivalent of some D-list Instagram influencer’s wardrobe.
Most kiasu Singaporeans would probably rather pay a little to get much better coverage. You’re better off with OCBC’s regular travel insurance plans, anyway.
6. OCBC Travel Insurance: Extreme Sports Outdoor Adventure
OCBC travel insurance has decent coverage… if you plan to stay stationary the entire trip. They are very strict with the excluded activities for Starter and Essential plans.
To get any kind of coverage for activities like scuba diving, skiing, trekking, etc. you have to opt for the most expensive Ultimate plan.
| OCBC Explorer Travel Insurance Extreme Sports & Outdoor Adventure | Covered? |
| Bungee Jumping | Ultimate plan only |
| Canoeing/ White Water Rafting | Ultimate plan only (up to Grade 4 with a qualified guide) |
| Hang Gliding | Not stated |
| Helicopter/ Airplane Rides | Ultimate plan only |
| Hot Air Balloon Rides | Not stated |
| Jet Skiing | Ultimate plan only |
| Mountaineering/ Trekking | Ultimate plan only (up to 3,000m) |
| Paragliding | Ultimate plan only |
| Parasailing | Ultimate plan only |
| Skiing/ Snowboarding | Ultimate plan only (within official approved areas of a ski resort) |
| Skydiving | Ultimate plan only |
| Underwater diving/ activities | Ultimate plan only (up to depth of 30m with a qualified guide) |
| Zip-lining/ Zip-riding | Not stated |
As you can tell from the table above, if you’re planning on vacation jam-packed with adventure sports and outdoor activities, you’ll only be covered under OCBC Explorer’s Ultimate travel insurance plan.
Otherwise, competitors like FWD travel insurance already cover most of these activities in their cheapest plans, so if you don’t want to spend more than you have to on your travel insurance, definitely shop around more.
If you’re taking part in contact or extreme sports, Direct Asia travel insurance‘s sports rider is an add-on worth looking into.
7. OCBC Travel Insurance Claims Review
For those who bought travel insurance through OCBC, most of the after-sales support is through Great Eastern. Expectedly so due to the fact that Great Eastern is the insurance provider.
The worst thing about buying OCBC travel insurance in the past was that the claims process had to go through snail mail to make a claim! Thankfully, those days are past us.
Great Eastern hotline: +65 6248 2211
Great Eastern travel insurance claims: Download and print the Great Eastern travel insurance claim form and mail it with supporting documents to Great Eastern General Insurance Limited, 1 Pickering Street, #01-01 Great Eastern Centre, Singapore 048659 (Attention: Claims Department)
OCBC also has a 24-hour emergency assistance hotline: +65 6339 2155. This is available for travel and medical-related assistance that you may require.
8. Should I Buy OCBC Travel Insurance?
The OCBC Explorer travel insurance, we’d say it’s definitely worth it if you opt for the Ultimate plan. Given that the Starter plan does not even offer Covid-19 coverage, it’s definitely out of the question. While the Essential plan offers some Covid-19 coverage, it’s far from decent. Coupled with the fact that both the Starter and Essential plan offer basically no coverage for outdoor activities and extreme sports, if you’re going with OCBC’s travel insurance plans, you either go big or go home.
It might make sense to get the lower tier plans if you’re visiting an expensive Asian country and are just planning to shop, eat and chill with your mask on at all times to keep Miss Rona at bay.
Looking to buy OCBC travel insurance? Compare all Singapore travel insurance policies by price and coverage first.
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