MSIG car insurance became popular years ago while they were still offering their one and only “any-workshop” plan to motorists in Singapore. In recent years, their motor insurance product evolved. Now we are able to choose between the authorized-workshop plan or their any-workshop plan. With this, their product range became as complete as the rest of the car insurers.

MSIG MotorMax car insurance includes the standard third party coverage that is legally required for any vehicle in Singapore. This plan offers unlimited compensation for (3rd party) death and injury. And in case you damage any property, MSIG insurance will pay the owner up to 5 million dollars to fix those damages.

Apart from third party liabilities, MotorMax also covers liabilities such as personal accident and medical expenses.

When accidents happen, people are often injured and may need a sum of money to tide through difficult times. As such, MSIG provides a personal accident (PA) benefit up to $20,000 for you, the insured. This coverage even extends to your passengers or whoever you allow to use your car. Their coverage is up to $10,000 each.

Injuries, however minor they may be, require some medical attention. And such costs are not cheap. Therefore MSIG insurance pays up to $1,000 to cover these expenses. This applies to you, your authorized driver and your passengers.

One of the most important features of your comprehensive motor insurance plan is to protect your car from damages. Under the MotorMax plan, you can send your car to any of MSIG’s authorized workshops for accident repair.

For a list of MSIG authorized workshops, please refer to:
http://www.gia.org.sg/pdfs/Industry/Motor/ARCs/MSIG%20Insurance.pdf

Under the MotorMax plan, there is no Loss of Use Benefit (a.k.a. car replacement nor transport allowance). So while your car is being repaired, you have to find your own transport. Nevertheless you can arrange with the workshop to repair your car during a most convenient period.

For total loss cases, MSIG will pay out the market value of your car at the time of loss. This is pretty standard across all insurers. Some insurers offer to replace a new car if it is totally damaged, provided it is under 1 year old. Needless to say, you have to pay a little more for this. MSIG offers such benefit too, under the MotorMax Plus plan.

As an added service, you may replace your windscreen at the appointed MSIG appointed workshops if it is broken . While there is no reinstatement fee, you will be required to pay $100 + GST for the replacement.

Finally, MSIG has a 24-hour automobile and medical assistance service. Through their hotline, you can ask for help regarding roadside assistance, emergency towing and vehicle repatriation, locksmith referral, et cetera.

On top of this, if you face any trouble while driving your car in Malaysia, you have access to emergency evacuation and repatriation.

With the above features in mind, you will be able to decide whether or not this product suits you. Should you need more features, you can also consider MSIG’s MotorMax Plus car insurance plan. This package will give you a little more benefits as you invest a little more in premium.

A No-Claim Discount (NCD) entitles you to a lower car insurance premium. The maximum NCD you can have is 50% and the lowest is 0%. Thus the discount you get depends on how high your NCD is. This is one of the ways you are rewarded for being a safe driver.

If you have not made any insurance claim in the past 1 year, your NCD will increase by 10%. The 2 tables below illustrate this:

For Private Cars:

For Commercial Vehicles and Motorcycles:

With the above in mind, it does not necessarily mean you will lose your NCD if you make an insurance claim.

In Singapore, insurers depend on a benchmark known as the Barometer of Liability Agreement (BOLA) to determine what your responsibility is for each accident you get into. As long as it is less than 20%, your NCD will not be affected.

Otherwise your NCD may drop by 30%, as illustrated in the table below:

There is a common misunderstanding about No-Claims Discount you must know about. People are often confused whether their NCD applies to them or their vehicle.

Technically, your NCD applies to you. This means whether you switch to another insurer or buy another vehicle, your NCD remains with you. Nevertheless if you own a second car, the NCD for that vehicle will have to start from 0%.

In other words, your NCD can be transferred from one insurer to another and from one car to another. But it cannot be transferred from one person to another.

(NCD also cannot be transferred from one vehicle class to another. For example, you cannot transfer your Motorcycle’s 20% NCD to your Car or vice versa.)

If you are concerned about losing your NCD in case of an accident, you can buy an NCD protector.  Most insurers only allow you to buy this rider if your NCD is at 50%. With this, even if you make an insurance claim, your NCD will not drop.

However you have to bear in mind that your NCD protector cannot be transferred from one insurer to another. This means if you want to retain your NCD at 50% after an accident, you have to renew with your existing insurer.

Finally, if you don’t own a car (or vehicle) for more than 12 months, you will lose your NCD. For example, if you sold off your car and went overseas, then bought a car again after more than 12 months, your NCD will start from 0% again.

If your car insurance renewal is near, you may find a great insurer by getting car insurance quotes from as many as 12 different car insurers. Simply take 2 minutes to fill up the form at www.motorinsurancesingapore.com and the best 3 quotes will be sent to you.