If you happen to’re a savvy shopper however dislike having to cope with insurance coverage brokers who attempt to laborious promote or affect you in the direction of getting sure merchandise that you already know aren’t nice for you and your loved ones, then take a look at Planner Bee. Apart from permitting you to handle your (and your loved ones’s) insurance coverage insurance policies multi functional place, it gives a brand new mannequin of shopping for insurance coverage – the place you and your wants come first, and the agent servicing comes solely on the finish AFTER you’ve made your resolution. Can expertise take away the commissions bias that’s inherent within the trade? I’m definitely hopeful, however you’ll be able to learn on to resolve for your self!
what you wish to purchase, and head on-line to check quotes on numerous on-line aggregators. Then, you uncover that you simply’ve run into a number of points:
- Most on-line aggregators supply quotes from solely a restricted variety of insurers, or product varieties (e.g. pet insurance coverage just isn’t widespread, only some portals have it)
- When you know what you need, you want to converse with somebody to ask questions and make clear your issues earlier than you commit, particularly to a long-term plan like life or medical insurance
- You attempt to name up your insurance coverage agent good friend for it, solely to grasp that they’re unable to get you quotes from insurers like AIA, Nice Japanese or Prudential.
- Typically, your agent is unavailable and doesn’t reply…which makes you marvel, what is going to occur whenever you want them throughout claims then? Who do you go to in the event that they’re the one contact you’ve got for that coverage?
The state of the insurance coverage market in the present day
The insurance coverage trade is fraught with conflicts of curiosity, which frequently implies that shoppers have little to no clue as as to whether their insurance coverage agent is recommending them the very best coverage that meets their wants, or one that’s higher for the agent’s earnings. From completely different commissions charges abroad journeys for pushing sure merchandise, these incentive buildings are sometimes not made identified to the buyer, making it even more durable for them to guage what is really driving their agent’s suggestions.
I’ve met dozens of insurance coverage brokers, and most fail to really impress me sufficient to earn my belief. For those who do, I’ve stored them shut through the years, utilizing their suggestions as a second (typically third) opinion to assist validate whether or not my resolution is appropriate.
The tell-tale indicators normally seem when your agent is fast to advocate you entire life insurance coverage, investment-linked plans (ILPs) or endowment insurance policies spanning over 20 or 30 years. It’s a incontrovertible fact that time period life insurance coverage is a much more cost-effective technique to defend in opposition to mortality for many shoppers*, whereas investment-linked plans with their excessive charges will hardly aid you to beat the market and most endowment plans have barely stored up with market returns.
*See a case research of when the opposite argument (entire life over time period life) may maintain true right here, equivalent to when somebody does NOT wish to purchase time period and make investments the remainder.
After my current article about how insurance coverage brokers are compensated in Singapore, the crew at Planner Bee reached out to me to share their resolution to this drawback. As an award-winning fintech app helmed by a crew from insurance coverage and wealth administration backgrounds, Planner Bee was designed to assist shoppers make knowledgeable selections primarily based on their wants somewhat than an agent’s commissions.
And the reality is, until your insurance coverage wants are advanced, you is perhaps higher off planning for your self, as a way to eradicate all these potential conflicts of curiosity within the first place! That is what I’ve personally achieved for the final decade, and I like to recommend that you simply take possession of managing your personal insurance coverage insurance policies for your self on this method too.
However as a DIY insurance coverage planner, the place do you go to make sure that you’re heading in the right direction?
Discover and handle your insurance coverage insurance policies in a single place
Enter Planner Bee, a cellular private monetary device designed by Singaporeans to cater particularly to the wants of insurance coverage patrons right here. Powered by their very own proprietary engine, the app’s dashboard was additionally among the many first in Singapore to supply customers a one-stop overview of their numerous insurance coverage insurance policies throughout a number of insurers.
You need to use it to handle not simply your personal insurance policies, but in addition that of your loved ones. In a single look, you’ll be capable of observe:
- What plans you (and your loved ones) have
- The protection supplied by every, and in whole
- The premiums and renewal (fee) dates for every coverage
I beforehand really helpful the Autumn app for this goal to lots of you, however after Normal Chartered Financial institution determined to place the brakes on that venture earlier this 12 months, I’ve been searching for another resolution – and located it in Planner Bee.
As soon as I had manually keyed within the particulars of my insurance policies (and my total household’s), I may now see and handle all of them throughout the app.
And with instruments equivalent to an insurance coverage wants calculator, you’ll be guided on determining the full insurance coverage protection you want and whether or not your present insurance policies adequately defend you.
As soon as you already know what gaps it is advisable to fill, you’ll be able to then navigate their market to check throughout insurers and insurance policies. Planner Bee sources merchandise and quotes from throughout 29 insurers in a single place, which saves you effort and time because you now not want to go to a number of suppliers individually. Whether or not you want a private accident plan or a maternity cowl, it is possible for you to to check the advantages throughout completely different plans and insurers in a single view.
As the prices of premiums for a similar plan fluctuate at completely different instances primarily based on the insurers’ reductions, your age and gender, it’s typically tough for shoppers to check simply. Even brokers from FAs that distribute merchandise from a number of insurers could have a troublesome time getting these quotes for you, since insurers equivalent to Nice Japanese and Prudential usually don’t open up distribution channels with these companies so as to defend their very own tied brokers.
You may get round this by requesting for a personalised quote from Planner Bee; merely submit your particulars, sum of protection wanted and your annual finances for premiums.
Powered by its proprietary advice engine, you too can enter your insurance coverage wants and let the Planner Bee platform make personalised and brand-agnostic insurance coverage solutions for you, making it simpler so that you can discover the suitable coverage with out bias.
Which means that whether or not you’re in search of medical insurance to cowl medical prices or life insurance coverage for household safety, Planner Bee brings the whole lot beneath one roof, making it a simple, one-stop store to your insurance coverage wants.
Are you able to belief Planner Bee?
Planner Bee was based by Ms. Cherie Wang, who’s an authorized Chartered Monetary Guide (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) who has ranked within the prime 5% of economic advisors globally for greater than 10 years.
However regardless of her achievements, Cherie acknowledged a persistent flaw within the system: many monetary advisors in Singapore usually function primarily based on commissions, which creates potential conflicts of curiosity. One other problem she confronted was that whereas working in an company, she and her colleagues didn’t all the time have entry to the very best merchandise inside their distribution community to supply to shoppers.
Many consumers additionally sought her assist in managing their total portfolios, together with insurance policies she didn’t have direct entry to. With over 20 insurers in Singapore, manually evaluating merchandise throughout the board every time was impractical, and it turned evident that her shoppers wanted a extra clear and environment friendly technique to handle their insurance coverage portfolios.
This realisation drove her to work on Planner Bee, which was based with 2 foremost targets:
- To assist folks handle their general funds in a single place.
- To supply an unbiased platform for needs-based monetary product comparability.
As their crew just isn’t affiliated with any insurance coverage firm, their purpose is to help you in planning and buying insurance policies from a number of insurers with none bias or desire in the direction of a selected firm.
At present, Planner Bee combines the comfort of a market with monetary calculators, an academic library, and personalised steering from licensed advisors that can assist you get lined with confidence. The monetary planning device now connects to 42 monetary establishments so you’ll be able to consolidate your banking transactions, insurance coverage insurance policies, and funding portfolios multi functional place.
Tip: Bear in mind to all the time ask your advisor for his or her MAS Consultant Quantity, so you'll be able to verify that they're licensed to deal with your case. Planner Bee offers these to the buyer, upon request.
Not like aggregators that merely checklist insurance coverage merchandise, Planner Bee goes one step additional to supply instruments to assist DIY customers consider their very own insurance coverage wants and gives personalised quotations primarily based on these wants.
Your premiums are the identical when shopping for by way of Planner Bee or instantly from the insurance coverage suppliers.
And must you ever really feel caught or confused, you too can choose to seek the advice of a human advisor by way of their on-line session function.
The app additionally categorises your insurance coverage insurance policies for you, so that you keep in mind what you’ve purchased and have already got lined. It additionally reminds you (through e-mail and WhatsApp) when your renewal dates are nearing, so that you don’t have to fret about any insurance policies lapsing!
How Planner Bee solves for conflicts of curiosity
As an alternative of leaving the suggestions as much as particular person insurance coverage brokers, who might every push for various insurance policies for various causes, Planner Bee opts for a mannequin the place your quotations offered are pushed by the shopper’s necessities somewhat than which insurer is at present paying the best commissions for closing or giving an incentive journey on.
How does expertise take away the bias? Most citation techniques in the present day require a human agent to key in particulars and choose the coverage that they want to get quotes for. In distinction, the citation techniques at Planner Bee doesn't bear in mind commissions (because it doesn't have the data within the system within the first place for it to be biased), and offers quotations solely primarily based on buyer’s necessities, finances and advantages or wants.
To present you full visibility and management over your selections, Planner Bee’s citation system kinds insurance policies by its profit options and premium charges. This primarily guidelines out any biases which may favour insurance policies delivering larger commissions, serving to to make sure that clients are getting the very best worth for his or her cash.
Get your questions on any coverage answered by scheduling a Zoom name, or ship messages through WhatsApp to debate the offered quotations. When you’ve determined to buy, a video name (through Zoom) will likely be organized with a salaried licensed advisor, who will clarify the phrases and circumstances and confirm if the insurance policies chosen actually match your wants, so you should buy with a peace of thoughts.
Who ought to use Planner Bee?
If you happen to already handle your personal insurance coverage insurance policies and also you’re merely in search of quotes and help with out having to cope with an agent laborious promoting you, then you’ll love the Planner Bee expertise.
You get full management over your personal shopping for expertise with out the affect of any agent bias, but nonetheless have entry to ask the Planner Bee crew if it is advisable to make clear any phrases or issues on the insurance policies you’re analyzing.
Apart from its fashionable digital insurance coverage planning interface for shoppers, a core advantage of Planner Bee is that it gives entry to over 500 insurance coverage merchandise throughout 29 insurers.
That is laborious – or near unattainable – for many brokers or companies to copy. It’s a well-known truth which you can solely get Prudential insurance policies from a Prudential agent, for example, which is why most on-line comparability portals or aggregators aren’t in a position to pull quotes for you from a model with solely tied brokers both.
No tied agent or unbiased monetary advisory group has entry to that many, nor can a single human go for adequate product coaching on to grow to be an knowledgeable in so many various merchandise. That’s the reason Planner Bee pulls from the power of their crew as one, with completely different folks specialising in their very own strengths, model(s) or product portfolio. They mix the information and expertise to information the expertise interface and quotations, however the licensed advisor is barely assigned on the finish after the buyer has determined which product or insurer they want to go together with.
So in the event you’re comfy with utilizing on-line instruments and wish to save effort and time evaluating insurance policies from numerous insurers, the app gives a seamless means so that you can handle your well being and life insurance coverage wants – not only for your self, however to your total household.
You need to use their insurance coverage wants calculator or the cellular app to analyse your present protection:
However whereas savvy insurance coverage patrons will discover the app and instruments helpful, Planner Bee will likely be much less appropriate for people who find themselves clueless on their insurance coverage wants, or in the event you’re uncertain on even the kind and performance that every insurance coverage coverage performs in our life.
In such a state of affairs, you’ll most likely be higher off with an in-person session with an insurance coverage agent, who can sit down to teach you and advise you primarily based on their suggestions.
Sponsored Message from Planner Bee:
How you can purchase insurance coverage through Planner Bee
One of the simplest ways to make use of Planner Bee can be to gauge your personal monetary wants first and evaluate to see which coverage’s advantages would serve you finest.
Then, get a personalised quote through their on-line type which you’ll obtain through e-mail.
If you happen to want, you might request for an obligation-free session on-line or through a cellphone name to run by way of the completely different choices.
When you’ve determined in your alternative of plan, you’ll be able to apply for a scheduled name to undergo any questions you’ve got and e-sign the digital types to use for the insurance policies that you simply want.
As soon as your plan is accepted, you’re going to get a affirmation from the Planner Bee crew through e-mail and WhatsApp.
Within the occasion that it is advisable to make any claims, you’ll be able to merely attain out to the identical WhatsApp quantity or e-mail to your comfort, and their devoted customer support crew will help you along with your claims or servicing issues.
Try Planner Bee for your self right here.
To get a reduction, quote DISCOUNTPLEASE to get the next gives:
- Built-in Protect plans: $50 cashback to your first 12 months premium
- Time period Life plans: 15% low cost in your first 12 months premium
- Complete Life plans: 10% low cost in your first 12 months premium
Reductions legitimate throughout the subsequent 12 months.
Disclosure: This put up was written in partnership with Planner Bee Pte Ltd.
