Just started at a new job and excited to take on responsibilities and prove yourself? Before you roll up your sleeves and get started, it would be a good idea to first take a thorough look at your employee benefits package. Employers normally provide group insurance to individuals of their organisation to ensure they are financially protected. For example, if they fall sick and need to visit the GP or if they require treatment for a chronic disease. 

Group insurance programmes usually include several protection plans, including group term life and group medical insurance. But these types of plans are usually basic and only provide you a level of coverage; there may be some significant gaps in these plans that could leave you and your family vulnerable in the event something happens. In this article we list the specific instances where top-up insurance will come in handy: 

What is top-up insurance?

First, what is top-up insurance? Top-up insurance provides additional coverage that fills the gaps of your current plans, ensuring you have the means to protect yourself in the event something happens. You might also have specific needs; your partner, young children or elderly parents might require additional life insurance or medical insurance to ensure they are able to receive the medical attention required if they are sick or if you are no longer able to care for them. 

Why would you need top-up insurance?

The cost of healthcare in Singapore is expensive, and it is easy to feel the pinch of surgeries and hospital visits. While all Singaporeans and permanent residents have access to the national MediShield Life insurance plan, foreigners living here are not afforded this protection. Instead of simply relying on what your employer provides, find out how you can plug the gaps. 

Types of top-up insurance

1. Family insurance

It is unlikely that the needs of your family would also be covered by the healthcare plans your company provides. It is simply not possible to predict what could happen in life, so taking the right steps will ensure that your loved ones are well taken care of if anything were to happen. 

Life Insurance Association (LIA) recommends that an average working adult with one dependant would require an average of $739,000 – nine times their annual salary. Ensure the costs of hospitalisation or surgeries are covered for your partner, children and parents by ensuring you have adequate medical insurance for them. 

Also, if you happen to be the sole provider, and should something unfortunate like a sudden accident happen or a critical illness befall you – you want to ensure that all your savings are not wiped out. In the event of death or long-term inability to work, the source of income would suddenly cease, meaning the need for another financial source becomes critical. This is where critical illness or term life insurance plans come in. By ensuring that these policies provide sufficient payout as you recover, your family will not have to go into debt, but will instead have the resources to cover their expenses. 

2. Maternity insurance

If you’re thinking about having a child, it is advisable to take note of the costs involved in pregnancy. In addition to the costs of pre-pregnancy screenings, prenatal care, prenatal classes and the delivery, the cost of an unexpected complication can mean racking up hospital bills. Premature deliveries, birth complications, and congenital conditions are just several instances. For example, a C-section delivery with serious complications can cost up to $20,438. Maternity insurance covers families in these instances, providing financial assistance for the extra hospital stay and additional treatment costs.

3. Dental insurance 

Dental treatment such as – wisdom tooth surgeries, root canal treatments, braces, cavity treatments – can be expensive. For example, the cost of braces can start from $3,220 and can go up to $6,500. These types of treatments are usually not included in employee benefit packages, but are vital to the maintenance of our health. By topping up your medical plan with dental insurance, you can be assured that if you have a cavity or a cracked tooth you would not need to pay out of your own pocket. 

4. Benefit limits

Your company might be providing you with a group medical plan, group term life plan or group personal accident plan. But what are the annual limits for each type of plan and do they sufficiently cover your needs? Calculate your protection gap by first determining the amount of resources you need. Subtract this with the amount of resources available to you and you can ascertain your protection gap. Top-up plans serve to close this gap by offering additional pay out so that the lump sum received is sufficient. 

Learn more about Expat Insurance’s top-up insurance plans 

Different insurance providers offer different types of plans and coverage. Compare the different top-up insurance plans that are available to you and find one that can meet your needs. Peace of mind is invaluable and purchasing such plans would help you and your loved ones guard against uncertainties.

Expat Insurance is an insurance provider that offers premium top-up insurance plans for those looking to boost the current plans provided by their employers. Our insurance advisors are here to understand your unique needs, take a look at your current plans and purpose a package that best complement your existing protection.