As a typical cheapo Sinkie, I must confess to buying FWD travel insurance purely because it’s one of the cheapest travel insurance providers in Singapore.
Obviously it’s cheap because FWD is relatively newer and unknown, but before you decide to knock it, let’s take a closer look at the FWD travel insurance plans.
FWD travel insurance at a glance
Travel insurance plan | FWD First | ||
Price for 1 week (ASEAN) | $25 | $34 | $44 |
Price for 1 week (Asia) | $27 | $42 | $53 |
Price for 1 week (Worldwide) | $42 | $54 | $73 |
Promotion | Currently 10% off with promo code TRAVEL10 | ||
Medical expenses (overseas) | $200,000 | $500,000 | $1,000,000 |
Emergency medical evacuation | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Personal accident (death & TPD) | $200,000 | $300,000 | $400,000 |
Travel delay ($100 every 6 hours) | $300 | $500 | $1,000 |
Trip cancellation | $7,500 | $10,000 | $15,000 |
Baggage delay ($150 every 6 hours) | $150 | $600 | $900 |
Baggage loss/damage | $3,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
Adventure activities covered? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Total Premium
S$27
Total Premium
MoneySmart Exclusive
Add-on Covid-19 coverage | Lowest premium
FWD Premium
MoneySmart Exclusive:
Get $10 Cash via PayNow, with a minimum premium of $65 after FWD discount!
Valid until 20 Mar 2022
More Details
Key Features
Enjoy cashless medical outpatient treatment in Singapore, access to emergency assistance and your travel policy documents through the FWD SG app!
Add on coverage for COVID-19 available for travel period of 90 days or less.
Total Premium
S$39
Total Premium
MoneySmart Exclusive
Add-on Covid-19 coverage | Lowest premium
FWD Business
MoneySmart Exclusive:
Get $10 Cash via PayNow, with a minimum premium of $65 after FWD discount!
Valid until 20 Mar 2022
More Details
Key Features
Enjoy cashless medical outpatient treatment in Singapore, access to emergency assistance and your travel policy documents through the FWD SG app!
Add on coverage for COVID-19 available for travel period of 90 days or less.
Total Premium
S$49
Total Premium
MoneySmart Exclusive
Add-on Covid-19 coverage | Lowest premium
FWD First
MoneySmart Exclusive:
Get $10 Cash via PayNow, with a minimum premium of $65 after FWD discount!
Valid until 20 Mar 2022
More Details
Key Features
Enjoy cashless medical outpatient treatment in Singapore, access to emergency assistance and your travel policy documents through the FWD SG app!
Add on coverage for COVID-19 available for travel period of 90 days or less.
FWD travel insurance COVID-19 add-on at a glance
The COVID-19 coverage for FWD travel insurance is an add-on that you need to opt in for on top of your travel insurance policy. Here’s what you will be covered for in the event that COVID-19 gets in the way of your holiday:
COVID-19 coverage | ||
Price for 1 week (ASEAN) | $20.60 | |
Price for 1 week (Asia) | $25.08 | |
Price for 1 week (Worldwide) | $34.04 | |
Overseas medical expenses | $100,000 | |
Overseas hospital cash | $2,800 ($200 per day) | |
Overseas quarantine allowance | N.A. | |
Trip postponement | N.A. | |
Trip cancellation | $1,000 | |
FWD travel insurance promotions
FWD is definitely one of the affordable brands and their prices are often competitive with ongoing promos (always use MoneySmart’s travel insurance comparison page to get the cheapest rates!) particularly if you’re travelling beyond Southeast Asia. I mean, $27 for a week’s coverage in expensive countries like Australia and New Zealand is really quite a steal.
Plus, with such low prices you’d think they’d be stingy with discounts. It doesn’t seem that way at all – there’s currently a 10% off with the promo code TRAVEL10. That’s $24.30 for the cheapest plan (1 week coverage in ASEAN countries). Throw COVID-19 coverage on top of this and you’ll still be paying less than $50. Wow!
Here’s a link to FWD’s promotions page for future reference.
What does FWD travel insurance cover?
One of the best things about FWD travel insurance is that they automatically cover activities like scuba diving, rock climbing and skydiving. Here’s a breakdown of common activities covered by FWD’s adventure sports-friendly travel insurance plans:
Outdoor activity | Covered by FWD? |
Hot air balloon | Yes |
Scuba diving | Yes |
Skiing and other ice/snow sports | Yes |
Hiking or trekking | Yes (up to 3,000m) |
Mountaineering or outdoor rock climbing | Yes |
Marathons and other competitions | No |
Jet skiing | Yes |
White water rafting | Yes |
Skydiving | Yes |
Paragliding, hang gliding or parachuting | Yes |
Bungee jumping | Yes |
The FWD policy wording doesn’t mention any sporting exclusions, with the exception of competitive sports and hiking/trekking above 3,000m. Considering that most outdoor activities are covered, their lowest tier plan (Premium) is very good value for money.
For a basic plan, FWD Premium has a pretty high trip cancellation claim limit of $7,500 (which applies for haze-related cancellation or infectious diseases like Zika and dengue too). Emergency evacuation is also unlimited.
Where FWD loses out is in the below-average travel inconvenience benefits. For example, for travel delays, you get $300 limit on delays, another $300 for missed connections and another $500 for “diversions”. It is very hard to claim the full benefit.
I can only assume it’s a measure against people over-claiming for non-critical inconveniences and bleeding insurance companies dry.
The below-average benefits also applies to its COVID-19 add-on coverage. It’s a pretty bare bones policy that you don’t really get much out of. In the event of a trip cancellation due to COVID-19, you will barely be able to cover your flight.
FWD travel insurance claim procedure
Emergency hotline: +65 6322 2072
WhatsApp claims: You can do a WhatsApp claim for travel delay or baggage delay. Send the message “I’ve a claim” to FWD Claims at +65 9128 8552. You can then WhatsApp photos of your documents.
Online claims: Log on to FWD’s Customer Portal or just fill in this FWD claim form and upload the supporting documents online.
Hard copy claims: For medical expenses and baggage loss/damage, you have to complete the online claims procedure and then mail your documents to FWD Singapore Pte Ltd (Claims Team), 6 Temasek Boulevard #18-01, Suntec Tower 4, Singapore 038986.
Things to note: Claims must be made within 30 days of the event or incident. Refer to FWD’s claims guide for what documents to submit for each type of claim. FWD will follow up to acknowledge your claim within 2 working days.
Conclusion: should you buy FWD travel insurance?
In general, the FWD travel insurance plans are good value for money, especially beyond ASEAN (i.e. Asia and Worldwide).
It’s particularly useful for those planning to go for outdoor activities like skydiving and hot-air balloon rides – unlike some other insurance companies that claim to protect you on your travels, but sneakily classify all your planned activities as “dangerous” and therefore excluded.
Another boon is the good trip cancellation coverage. (Because the world is full of threats to your imminent holiday.) FWD Premium has an above-average benefit for trip cancellations, even if it’s due to a Zika outbreak or haze.
Maybe I have the attention span of a millennial, but when I buy insurance from FWD I don’t find it horribly tedious. I appreciate that the whole user experience is mobile-optimised, fast and relatively painless. Plus, you can make claims through WhatsApp!
The downside is the poor benefits for travel inconveniences. For some people, the low limits on travel and baggage delays, and the trouble you have to go through for claiming losses, are a major deal breaker. If you’re travelling with expensive or important items, FWD definitely doesn’t offer enough coverage.
It’s COVID-19 add-on coverage also doesn’t offer much in the event of COVID-19 related inconveniences. You’d be better off looking elsewhere for policies that offer comprehensive coverage for COVID-19.
Looking to buy FWD travel insurance? Compare all Singapore travel insurance policies by price and coverage first.
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Original article: FWD Travel Insurance Singapore Review 2022.
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