NTUC I-Term Policy: The Cheapest in Singapore?

I was alerted by a reader of my blog that Aviva's SAF Group Term Policy might not be the cheapest around in Singapore. In fact, he pointed out that Philips Capital was selling some term insurance on its site. So I did a check and realised that he could be right afterall! The policy is actually called I-Term and is underwritten by NTUC Income and distributed by Philips Capital.

I had bought Aviva's SAF Group Term Policy some years back. Looking at the NTUC I-Term Policy now, I think that it is indeed a competitive product that might be much cheaper than other term policies around. Please do your own research as this is just based on my gut feel and opinion.

NTUC I-Term Policy

NTUC's term policy is a pure protection plan that provides coverage for death, total permanent disability and terminal illness. Terminal illness should not be confused with critical illness. Suicide is excluded for the first year of coverage. For TPD, the payouts are over a period of 5 years (10% for the 1st 4 years and the remaining 60% on the 5th year). This is pretty common amongst all insurance plans.

For a male of 30 years of age (non-smoker), a coverage of $100,000 will cost only $9 per month for a 5 year term and $13 per month for a 20 year term. As such, it does seem that the premiums are much lower than Aviva's SAF Group Term Policy! In addition, the premium rate is guaranteed for the term of the policy. That means that the premiums you will pay are guaranteed based on the number of years you are covering for yourself. Based on the website, you can choose between a 5 year up to a 35 year term of coverage (in increments of 5 years).

In fact, a Business Times article on August 2006 reported that I-Term was the cheapest term policy around then. I am not sure whether it is still the cheapest around in the market today.

No Minimum Entry age and Max Entry Age of 74yrs old (age last birthday)

I-Term has no minimum entry age. This means that a baby can be covered from as young as 1 year old. The maximum entry age is 74 yrs old.

A Quick Analysis

Based on first glance, I-Term indeed looks to be a value for money term insurance policy offering high coverage for low premiums. Unless someone corrects me, I would like to think that this is the cheapest term insurance I know of in the Singapore market today. Thanks to my reader for giving me the heads up on this cheap term insurance plan!

What I like about this plan is basically how it is competitively priced and how it offers a variety of terms for coverage. If I were to switch to this term insurance, I will most likely opt for the 35 year term coverage. In terms of monthly premiums, it might be cheaper than the SAF Group Term Policy that I have. In addition, it will be guaranteed renewable.

Aviva's SAF Group Term Policy provides rebates each year that help to make their term plans even more competitive when you take into account the rebates. For example, I have received this year's rebates of up to $100. So comparing premiums wise, it is a close fight between these two term plans. Nevertheless, I still think that for the benefits provided, the I-Term is rather competitive for its pricing. As my SAF Group Term Policy is lumped together with other critical illness and personal accident coverage, it is difficult for me to do an apple to apple comparison and decide whether it is truly worthwhile to switch plans at the moment.

If there is any NTUC income agent reading this blog, do let me know what the premiums are like for critical illness coverage and personal accident coverage. Who knows, I might even purchase the policy from you! =)