Uob travel insurance review 2022: promo, covid-19, complimentary insurance
UOB travel insurance is something of a hidden gem. When you buy travel insurance, the usual names that come to mind are NTUC , MSIG , FWD and so on.
But in my opinion, UOB travel insurance offers pretty decent coverage – and I’m saying this as someone who is not a fan of UOB at all. This is a pleasant surprise because local banks usually don’t try very hard with their insurance products.
Let’s take a closer look so you can decide if it’s worth your money.
Contents
1. UOB Travel Insurance: Summary
UOB travel insurance is sold under the brand UOB Insure & Travel. It’s actually provided by UOI (United Overseas Insurance) which is UOB’s insurance arm.
This is not to be mixed up with the complimentary travel insurance UOB offers its commercial cardholders. UOB’s InsureTravel is like any other travel insurance provider offering their travel insurance plans for purchase. You don’t have to be an existing UOB customer to buy UOB’s InsureTravel plans.
2. UOB Travel Insurance: Coverage
Two years ago, the UOB travel insurance had only 2 tiers – Essential and Preferred.
Now, UOB InsureTravel comes in 3 tiers:
- Basic Plan (cheapest, lowest coverage)
- Essential Plan
- Preferred Plan (most expensive, highest coverage)
UOB InsureTravel has categorised their insurance premiums into 3 areas for its single-trip plans:
- Area 1 : Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
- Area 2 : Asia countries excluding Middle East countries, Central Asia countries and Russian Federation. Australia and New Zealand included.
- Area 3 : Anywhere in the world
On the other hand, UOB InsureTravel’s annual plans has categorised their insurance premiums in 2 areas for its annual trip plans:
- Area 4 : ASEAN, Asia countries excluding Middle East countries, Central Asia countries and Russian Federation. Australia and New Zealand are included under Area 4
- Area 5 : Anywhere in the world
UOB InsureTravel’s coverage, claim limits, and key benefits are as follows:
| UOB InsureTravel | Basic | Essential | Preferred |
| Price (Area 1) | $46/week | $60/week | $76/week |
| Price (Area 2) | $59/week | $77/week | $97/week |
| Price (Area 3) | $75/week | $97/week | $123/week |
| Medical Expenses (Overseas) | $200,000 | $500,000 | $750,000 |
| Emergency Medical Evacuation | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Personal Accident (Death & TPD) | $150,000 | $250,000 | $350,000 |
| Trip cancellation | $3,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Baggage loss | $2,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| Outdoor Adventure | Limited | Limited | Limited |
| Covid-19 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
UOB InsureTravel’s plans range from $46 to $123. Even when it’s not discounted, UOB InsureTravel is definitely on the more affordable end of travel insurance plans.
We love a good deal any day of the week but does UOB InsureTravel’s coverage really give you a bang for your buck?
In terms of coverage, UOB travel insurance seems pretty legit. Medical coverage is excellent for its price, travel inconvenience benefits are not the best but still decent, and if you’re using a UOB credit card you also get bonus fraud protection. Even with a Basic plan, the claim limits are pretty high.
Comparison of UOB travel insurance prices vs other travel insurance providers:
| UOB | FWD | Tiq by Etiqa | |
| Price (per week) | $46-$123 | $25-$73 | $39-$106 |
| Covid-19 (per week) | Included | $20.60-$34.04 | $18-$40 |
| Medical Expenses (Overseas) | $200,000- $750,000 | $200,000-$1,000,000 | $500,000-$2,500,000 |
| Personal Accident (Death & TPD) | $150,000-$350,000 | $200,000-$400,000 | $150,000-$500,000 |
| Trip cancellation | $3,000-$7,5000 | $7,500-$15,000 | $5,000-$15,000 |
| Baggage Loss | $2,000-$7,500 | $300-$1,000 | $2,000-$3,000 |
Looking at the table above, UOB InsureTravel might not seem like the best in class travel insurance product. However, the thing to note is of the four insurance providers listed, only UOB InsureTravel’s policies include Covid-19 coverage.
Covid-19 coverage has to be purchased as an add-on for FWD and Tiq by Etiqa travel insurance policies. Given that what you pay for UOB InsureTravel’s travel insurance plans also includes Covid-19 coverage, you get your money’s worth in coverage.
S$ 21.60
FWD Premium
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Tiq Entry
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Get 40% off Tiq Single Trip or 60% off Covid-19 add on for Annual Plans.
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3. UOB Travel Insurance Covid-19 Coverage
Given how affordable UOB’s InsureTravel policies are, it might come as a surprise to you that its plans already include Covid-19 coverage:
| UOB InsureTravel Covid-19 Coverage | Basic | Essential | Preferred |
| Overseas Medical Expenses | $100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Overseas Hospitalisation Cash Benefit | $50/day (max $700) | $100/day (max $1,400) | $100/day (max $1,400) |
| Overseas Quarantine Cash Benefit | $50/day (max $700) | $100/day (max $1,400) | $100/day (max $1,400) |
| Emergency Medical Evacuation/ Repatriation | $100,000 | $150,000 | $200,000 |
| Trip Cancellation | $1,500 | $2,500 | $5,000 |
| Trip Curtailment | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,500 |
UOB InsureTravel’s Covid-19 coverage is also worthy of singing praises. Even the basic plan’s overseas medical expenses coverage limit is $100,000. In comparison, FWD’s Covid-19 coverage will set you back by an additional $20.60-$34.04 for $200,000 in overseas medical expenses.
Given just how pocket-friendly UOB InsureTravel plans are, upgrading to the Preferred plan is still cost competitive with other insurance providers who offer Covid-19 coverage as an add-on.
4. UOB Travel Insurance Promo
We’ve mentioned a fair bit about how affordable and price competitive UOB InsureTravel’s plans are. I don’t know about you, but I really hate buying stuff at full price, especially when I just know there’s going to be a sale just around the corner.
UOB travel insurance is kind of like that. When there’s a promotion, UOB travel insurance can be downright cheap, making it one of the best prices you can get in Singapore. Currently, there’s an ongoing promotion of 30% off on single-trip plans and 10% off on annual plans .
Here are the UOB InsureTravel prices after the 30% discount:
| UOB InsureTravel | Basic | Essential | Preferred |
| Price (Area 1) | $32.20 | $42 | $53.20 |
| Price (Area 2) | $41.30 | $53.90 | $67.90 |
| Price (Area 3) | $52.50 | $67.90 | $86.10 |
After discount, UOB’s InsureTravel policies certainly give you the best value for money especially considering that it also includes Covid-19 coverage.
You can keep tabs on the latest promotions on the UOB travel insurance page.
5. UOB Complimentary Travel Insurance
If you’re a UOB cardholder, you can qualify for UOB’s complimentary travel insurance if you charge the entire fare of your air ticket to any of the following cards:
Who does love free things? But as the old adage goes, there are no free lunches in the world. The UOB complimentary travel insurance coverage is extremely limited compared to the normal (paid) UOB travel insurance. It’s coverage is limited to the following:
- Personal Accident coverage of $500,000
- Emergency Medical Assistance, Evacuation & Repatriation coverage up to S$50,000 due to an accident or illness (including due to COVID-19 with effect from 1 April 2022)
UOB’s complimentary travel insurance coverage is incredibly bare bones. You’d definitely need to purchase your own travel insurance even if you are a UOB cardholder and qualify for the complimentary coverage.
Plus, there’s the added trouble of having to sign-up online to qualify for the complimentary travel insurance.
6. UOB Travel Insurance: Extreme Sports Outdoor Adventure
As we’ve seen in the sections above, the UOB travel insurance is actually legit.
However, UOB isn’t the most lenient of insurers when it comes to adventure activities, so UOB travel insurance is not for thrill-seekers who really want to test fate.
Here’s a list of outdoor activities that are covered, taken from the UOI policy wording document which is rather hidden from view. The notable exceptions are activities in which you’re airborne – bungee jumping, skydiving and so on.
| UOB Travel Insurance Extreme Sports & Outdoor Adventure | Covered? |
| Bungee Jumping | No |
| Canoeing/ White Water Rafting | Yes |
| Dog Sledding | Yes |
| Hang Gliding | No |
| Helicopter/ Airplane Rides | Yes (only if you’re a fare paying customer with a licensed airline) |
| Hot Air Balloon Rides | No |
| Jet Skiing | Yes |
| Mountaineering/ Outdoor rock climbing | No |
| Paragliding | No |
| Parasailing | No |
| Skiing/ Snowboarding | Yes |
| Skydiving | No |
| Underwater diving/ activities | No |
| Scuba diving | Yes (with diving instructor) |
| Zip-lining/ Zip-riding | No |
If you’re an adventure junkie planning to chase an adrenaline rush while you’re on holiday, the UOB InsureTravel plans are definitely limited in its extreme sports and outdoor adventure coverage. D efinitely consider DirectAsia’s Extreme Sports travel insurance rider as an add-on to your UOB InsureTravel plan. It helps that UOB InsureTravel policies are wallet-friendly to begin with.
7. UOB Travel Insurance Claims Review
UOB travel insurance’s cumbersome claims process that seems to be stuck in time might just be my least favourite thing about UOB InsureTravel. To submit your claim, you have to:
UOB travel insurance claims: Download the claim form from the UOB travel insurance page and email the completed form with supporting documents and receipts. Successful claims will then be credited to your account or the cheque will be sent to you via mail.
The inconvenience aside, UOB does have a 24-hour emergency hotline to tend to your queries anytime of any day. The details are as follows:
Emergency assistance hotline: +65 6222 7737
While there isn’t much fodder online about UOB travel insurance’s claims process, we did find one customer review being less than enthused about a full voicemail box. However, we’d take it with a pinch of salt given that it dates all the way back to 2013.
8. Should I buy UOB travel insurance?
UOB InsureTravel’s travel insurance is one of the most bang-for-buck ones out there – even the mid-tier Essential plan has excellent coverage.
It doesn’t make sense to overpay for your travel insurance unless you’re embarking on a high-stakes trip, like a thrill-seeking adventure. If you have an itinerary that’s heavy on extreme sports and outdoor adventure, you will definitely want to get an add-on that is more niche since UOB InsureTravel’s coverage in that category is greatly limited.
Overall, UOB travel insurance offers very good travel insurance benefits all around, from medical coverage to travel inconveniences that may arise from Covid-19. It’s an added plus that unlike other insurance providers, UOB’s InsureTravel travel insurance plans are inclusive of Covid-19 coverage.
The UOB InsureTravel policy also differentiates itself from other providers with additional benefits that are not common practice. For instance, UOB’s InsureTravel plans extend coverage to compassionate visits by a friend or family member.
On top of that, if you’re a UOB cardholder, you also enjoy the following exclusive benefit: