If you happen to’re a savvy client however dislike having to take care of insurance coverage brokers who attempt to exhausting promote or affect you in direction of getting sure merchandise that you understand aren’t nice for you and your loved ones, then try Planner Bee. Except for permitting you to handle your (and your loved ones’s) insurance coverage insurance policies multi function 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 choice. Can expertise take away the commissions bias that’s inherent within the business? I’m actually hopeful, however you’ll be able to learn on to resolve for your self!
You already know what you need to purchase, and head on-line to check quotes on numerous on-line aggregators. Then, you uncover that you just’ve run into a number of points:
- Most on-line aggregators provide quotes from solely a restricted variety of insurers, or product sorts (e.g. pet insurance coverage isn’t frequent, only some portals have it)
- When you know what you need, you want to converse with somebody to ask questions and make clear your considerations earlier than you commit, particularly to a long-term plan like life or medical health 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 Jap or Prudential.
- Typically, your agent is unavailable and doesn’t reply…which makes you marvel, what is going to occur if you want them throughout claims then? Who do you go to in the event that they’re the one contact you’ve gotten for that coverage?
The state of the insurance coverage market at present
The insurance coverage business is fraught with conflicts of curiosity, which frequently signifies 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 constructions are sometimes not made recognized to the buyer, making it even tougher 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 over time, utilizing their suggestions as a second (typically third) opinion to assist validate whether or not my choice is appropriate.
The tell-tale indicators normally seem when your agent is fast to advocate you complete life insurance coverage, investment-linked plans (ILPs) or endowment insurance policies spanning over 20 or 30 years. It’s a proven fact that time period life insurance coverage is a much more cost-effective option to shield 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 examine of when the opposite argument (complete life over time period life) may maintain true right here, corresponding to when somebody does NOT need to purchase time period and make investments the remaining.
After my current article about how insurance coverage brokers are compensated in Singapore, the workforce at Planner Bee reached out to me to share their resolution to this drawback. As an award-winning fintech app helmed by a workforce from insurance coverage and wealth administration backgrounds, Planner Bee was designed to assist shoppers make knowledgeable choices based mostly on their wants slightly than an agent’s commissions.
And the reality is, except your insurance coverage wants are advanced, you is likely to be higher off planning for your self, in an effort to remove all these potential conflicts of curiosity within the first place! That is what I’ve personally finished for the final decade, and I like to recommend that you just take possession of managing your individual 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 instrument designed by Singaporeans to cater particularly to the wants of insurance coverage consumers 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 should utilize it to handle not simply your individual insurance policies, but additionally that of your loved ones. In a single look, you’ll be capable of monitor:
- 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 advisable the Autumn app for this function to lots of you, however after Customary Chartered Financial institution determined to place the brakes on that mission earlier this 12 months, I’ve been searching for an alternate 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 might now see and handle all of them throughout the app.
And with instruments corresponding to an insurance coverage wants calculator, you’ll be guided on determining the whole insurance coverage protection you want and whether or not your current insurance policies adequately shield you.
As soon as you understand what gaps you might want 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 differ at completely different instances based mostly on the insurers’ reductions, your age and gender, it’s usually troublesome for shoppers to check simply. Even brokers from FAs that distribute merchandise from a number of insurers can have a tricky time getting these quotes for you, since insurers corresponding to Nice Jap and Prudential usually don’t open up distribution channels with these businesses with the intention to shield 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 price range for premiums.
Powered by its proprietary suggestion engine, you may as well enter your insurance coverage wants and let the Planner Bee platform make personalised and brand-agnostic insurance coverage ideas for you, making it simpler so that you can discover the appropriate coverage with out bias.
Because of this whether or not you’re searching for medical health insurance to cowl medical prices or life insurance coverage for household safety, Planner Bee brings the whole lot underneath one roof, making it a straightforward, one-stop store on your insurance coverage wants.
Are you able to belief Planner Bee?
Planner Bee was based by Ms. Cherie Wang, who’s a licensed Chartered Monetary Guide (ChFC) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) who has ranked within the prime 5% of monetary 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 based mostly 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 at all times have entry to the very best merchandise inside their distribution community to supply to shoppers.
Many purchasers 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 grew to become evident that her shoppers wanted a extra clear and environment friendly option to handle their insurance coverage portfolios.
This realisation drove her to work on Planner Bee, which was based with 2 principal targets:
- To assist folks handle their general funds in a single place.
- To offer an unbiased platform for needs-based monetary product comparability.
As their workforce isn’t affiliated with any insurance coverage firm, their objective is to help you in planning and buying insurance policies from a number of insurers with none bias or desire in direction of a specific firm.
In the present day, Planner Bee combines the comfort of a market with monetary calculators, an academic library, and personalised steerage from licensed advisors that can assist you get lined with confidence. The monetary planning instrument now connects to 42 monetary establishments so you’ll be able to consolidate your banking transactions, insurance coverage insurance policies, and funding portfolios multi function place.
Tip: Keep in mind to at all times ask your advisor for his or her MAS Consultant Quantity, so you'll be able to examine that they're licensed to deal with your case. Planner Bee supplies these to the buyer, upon request.
In contrast to aggregators that merely listing 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 based mostly on these wants.
Your premiums are the identical when shopping for by Planner Bee or immediately from the insurance coverage suppliers.
And must you ever really feel caught or confused, you may as well choose to seek the advice of a human advisor by their on-line session characteristic.
The app additionally categorises your insurance coverage insurance policies for you, so that you bear in mind what you’ve purchased and have already got lined. It additionally reminds you (by way of 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 slightly than which insurer is at the moment paying the best commissions for closing or giving an incentive journey on.
How does expertise take away the bias? Most citation techniques at present 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 keep in mind commissions (because it doesn't have the data within the system within the first place for it to be biased), and supplies quotations solely based mostly on buyer’s necessities, price range and advantages or wants.
To provide you full visibility and management over your decisions, Planner Bee’s citation system kinds insurance policies by its profit options and premium charges. This basically guidelines out any biases that 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 by way of WhatsApp to debate the offered quotations. When you’ve determined to buy, a video name (by way of Zoom) might 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 purchase with a peace of thoughts.
Who ought to use Planner Bee?
If you happen to already handle your individual insurance coverage insurance policies and also you’re merely searching for quotes and help with out having to take care of an agent exhausting promoting you, then you’ll love the Planner Bee expertise.
You get full management over your individual shopping for expertise with out the affect of any agent bias, but nonetheless have entry to ask the Planner Bee workforce if you might want to make clear any phrases or considerations on the insurance policies you’re inspecting.
Except for its trendy digital insurance coverage planning interface for shoppers, a core good thing about Planner Bee is that it gives entry to over 500 insurance coverage merchandise throughout 29 insurers.
That is exhausting – or near unattainable – for many brokers or businesses to copy. It’s a well-known reality which you can solely get Prudential insurance policies from a Prudential agent, as an example, which is why most on-line comparability portals or aggregators will not be capable of pull quotes for you from a model with solely tied brokers both.
No tied agent or impartial monetary advisory group has entry to that many, nor can a single human go for enough product coaching on to grow to be an knowledgeable in so many alternative merchandise. That’s the reason Planner Bee pulls from the power of their workforce 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 simply assigned on the finish after the buyer has determined which product or insurer they want to go along with.
So when you’re snug with utilizing on-line instruments and need to save effort and time evaluating insurance policies from numerous insurers, the app gives a seamless manner so that you can handle your well being and life insurance coverage wants – not only for your self, however on your total household.
You should utilize their insurance coverage wants calculator or the cellular app to analyse your current protection:
However whereas savvy insurance coverage consumers will discover the app and instruments helpful, Planner Bee might be much less appropriate for people who find themselves clueless on their insurance coverage wants, or when you’re uncertain on even the sort and performance that every insurance coverage coverage performs in our life.
In such a state of affairs, you’ll in all probability be higher off with an in-person session with an insurance coverage agent, who can sit down to teach you and advise you based mostly on their suggestions.
Sponsored Message from Planner Bee:
Find out how to purchase insurance coverage by way of Planner Bee
One of the simplest ways to make use of Planner Bee could be to gauge your individual monetary wants first and examine to see which coverage’s advantages would serve you greatest.
Then, get a personalised quote by way of their on-line type which you’ll obtain by way of e-mail.
If you happen to want, you might request for an obligation-free session on-line or by way of a telephone name to run by the completely different choices.
When you’ve determined in your selection of plan, you’ll be able to apply for a scheduled name to undergo any questions you’ve gotten and e-sign the digital varieties to use for the insurance policies that you just want.
As soon as your plan is authorized, you’ll get a affirmation from the Planner Bee workforce by way of e-mail and WhatsApp.
Within the occasion that you might want to make any claims, you’ll be able to merely attain out to the identical WhatsApp quantity or e-mail on your comfort, and their devoted customer support workforce will help you along with your claims or servicing issues.
Take a look at Planner Bee for your self right here.
To get a reduction, quote DISCOUNTPLEASE to get the next gives:
- Built-in Protect plans: $50 cashback on 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 submit was written in partnership with Planner Bee Pte Ltd.
