Insurance explained

Insurance terms explained

The words on quotes and policies, in plain English, each linked to a page that shows it in today's prices or cover.

Every policy

Premium: What you pay for the policy. Prices on this site include 9% GST. Typical prices.
Excess: The first part of a claim that you pay yourself. A S$500 excess on a S$2,000 claim means the insurer pays S$1,500. Car insurance excess compared.
Sum insured: The most the policy pays for one kind of loss, such as your belongings or a death benefit.
Sub-limit: A smaller cap inside a benefit, such as S$500 for any one item of baggage within a S$3,000 baggage limit.
Exclusion: Something the policy does not pay for, listed in its wording. What insurance covers.
Pre-existing condition: An illness or injury you (or your helper or pet) had before the policy started. Most policies exclude them, some for a waiting period only. Does travel insurance cover pre-existing conditions?.
Waiting period: Time after the policy starts before a benefit can be claimed, common for illness cover such as dengue on personal accident plans.
Promo code: A code you type at the insurer's checkout for a discount; some discounts apply without one. Discounts running now.

Comprehensive: Cover for damage to your own car as well as to other people and their property, plus fire and theft.
Third party, fire and theft (TPFT): Cover for damage you cause to others, and for your own car only if it is stolen or catches fire. Insuring an older car.
Third party only (TPO): The legal minimum: damage and injury you cause to others, nothing for your own car.
No-claim discount (NCD): A discount for each year without a claim, from 10% after one year to 50% after five. It follows you, not the car. What each NCD step saves.
NCD protector: An add-on, offered from 30%, 40% or 50% NCD depending on the insurer, that keeps your discount after one claim.
Authorised workshop: A workshop the insurer has approved to repair cars under its policies; choosing any workshop instead usually costs more. Authorised or any workshop.
Named driver: A driver listed on the policy besides the main driver. An unnamed driver may carry an extra excess.
Off-peak car: A Revised Off-Peak Car, used mainly outside weekday working hours, with lower road tax and, at most insurers, a lower premium. Off-peak cars.

Single trip and annual cover: Single-trip cover is for one trip's dates; annual cover is for every trip in a year to a region. Which costs less.
Medical evacuation: Moving you to a suitable hospital, or home, in an emergency, arranged by the insurer's assistance service. Which travel plans cover it.
Personal liability: Cover for injury or damage you accidentally cause to other people or their property. Home insurance and liability.
Contents: Your belongings at home: furniture, appliances, clothes and valuables. Home insurance for tenants.
Occupation class: How risky your job is, from office work (class 1) to manual work; personal accident premiums rise with the class.
Hospital cash: A fixed daily amount paid while you are in hospital, whatever the bill. Which PA plans pay it.

Security bond: The S$5,000 MOM requires an employer to lodge for a non-Malaysian helper, usually given by the insurer as a letter of guarantee. Maid insurance and the bond.
Waiver of counter-indemnity: An add-on that limits what the insurer can claim back from you if MOM calls the bond, usually to a S$250 excess.
Levy: MOM's monthly charge for employing a helper: S$300, or S$60 at the concessionary rate. The maid levy.
6ME: The six-monthly medical examination every helper under 50 must take. The 6ME.
Co-payment: The share of each vet bill you pay yourself on a pet policy, such as 20%, on top of any excess.

These are general meanings; each policy's own wording is the final word on what it covers.