Expat Family Insurance in Thailand.

Okay. So I’m here with Andy, Andy, my boss at CNX insure and I, Andy, I’m going to quiz you today about family insurance. Is that okay? 

Sounds good to me. 

Okay. So start from the top. What is family insurance? 

So what a family insurance is is, is exactly what it says. It is. It’s a, it’s an insurance. That’s gonna cover yourself and it’s gonna cover your children. Um, you know, that could be, you know, a mother and a father, the, as many as, as, as many as from one Qantas up to as many as five or six 

And what all this of key ingredients or, you know, things that people should be looking at considering when they are thinking about a family insurance, although the key details that might decide, uh, you know, which policy to use. I lost ya. Yeah. Frozen. Didn’t we all right, let’s start. Let’s start. Start from the top free to, 

I don’t know. That’d be just go. I just got to get, cause I’ve got the full screen on with me on there. Just want to get, um, we’ll get you on that 

One. Do I froze strange? I thought you was trying to joke on me for a second 

Then. Right. So I’m going to start my recording again. Okay. 

Okay. I’ll do another one as well. And we’re still recording on the zoom, so that’s fine. Okay. 3, 2, 1. So I’ve managed to persuade Andy to come along today and I’m going to quiz in today, all on about family insurance. Is that okay with you, 

Andy? I’m certainly fine with me. Okay. 

So let’s start from the top. What is family insurance? 

So finally insurance is exactly what it says is it’s, um, it’s an insurance policy that’s going to cover you and your family, you know, dependent, you know, you could have as little as one child or as many as 10, 10 kids. 

And presumably then are some insurance policies that have been specifically designed with families in mind. Is that correct? 

Yeah, that’s correct. Um, you do get some of the insurers that have, uh, uh, uh, a special option for, uh, geared up for families where if you have two or three or four kids, um, they, they actually get in short for free once you get after that first child. 

Okay. And is there a standard term for what is the definition of a child or they does that change from policy to policy? From insurance? 

Yeah. So for the most part, um, if a child from the moment they’re born up until the age of 18, then there’ll be classed as a child. There are one or two policies actually really good bonds though that I could suggest that, um, we’ll go right up to the age of 21. Oh, wow. 

Okay. Quite surprised actually, I thought it’d be more like 14 or, or something like that. Okay. Um, and are there any particular sort of, um, terms or things that people should be looking at when they’re considering a family policy perhaps possibly different to sort of solo policy? 

Uh, not really. I mean, yeah, it is exactly how, how you kind of opened up really that we, you know, family insurance, um, you know, and, and, and the bigger the family, the more benefits you can actually. Um, and that, that, that, that going back to, uh, the child between the age of birth up to the age of 18 or 21, there’s just like one, one set rate there. Um, and it’s a lower rate, you know, when they go on as a child compared to say, if someone was age 18 and they applied for an insurance on their own, it would be more expensive. 

So, um, what if a child is, you know, maybe they had, that was part of a family insurance policy when they were 16, they’re now 19 or 21. It’s now time for them to kind of go solo. Um, do they, can they, like, as I understand it and correct me if I’m wrong, um, a new insurance provider won’t cover for any sort of historical, uh, conditions. So if a star, if they move from a family policy into a solo policy, do they then have to from scratch or if they continue the same provider or they then sort of still covered. Does that make sense? 

Yeah, so yeah, it does make sense. Yeah. So once they cross cross that threshold of no longer being classified as, as a child, within that family, they could still stay within that family policy. You know, once I turned 19 or with the policy that, you know, is over 21, as soon as they turned 22, um, their premium will just go up according to the rate of 22 year old and they could stay within that family. Um, yeah, that’d be, there’s no penalties there, so, okay. 

So if they started just to be clear, then if they saved started when they were 16, age of 17, they did have a condition, which they’ve now still got there. Now a few years later, they’re now 20 or 22, and they’ve got a solo policy. If they remain with that existing provider, that condition would effectively be covered because it happened after the start of them working with that insurance provider. 

Okay. Yeah, because there would have been no breaking coverage. So, um, um, I mean potentially if, for whatever reason that, that, that child, if maybe the parents got to an age where they found that the insurance had become too expensive for them and they decided they wanted to cancel the family policy, the insurer would honour honour the insurance, the insurance for that child. And then they could just move on to a solo policy still within the same company, still under the same umbrella. So, um, yeah, they would, they would have that condition covered. Um, you know, as long as, as long as they stay with that provider that have that condition covered, it’s only if you were to cancel, if they decided they cancelled that policy and then come back and reapply, it you’re reapplying as a new customer that 

Right. Okay. I understand. So, um, I think this is one thing that I, I wasn’t aware of before sort of doing some work with you. I always thought of as insurance policy has been a sort of annual thing and every year I’m, you know, might decide which provider to use, but I realise now after some tuition from you that actually this is a longer term decision, really, and it’s not really smart to be jumping across providers too frequently because of course, if a condition does arise, that’s not going to be covered if I’m changing policy every year. So with that in mind is all, there’s some providers that might be a good fit now with my children aged 16 and 17, but might not be such a good fit when there are few years later. Perhaps I do, I need to take that into consideration if my decision today, or do you think that’s not such a critical concern? 

Um, I think that, uh, you know, at this stage it wouldn’t be such a great book concern. Um, just sort of going into what I open up a bit more of what you just said that, um, typically if someone, if I’m talking to someone, advising someone about insurance, the first thing is, is how old are they? Um, you know, someone say over the age of 65, it will be, um, XYZ insurer. Uh, and if that are under the age of 50 would be a different insurer again, um, that that’s, that’s always the first thing to look at radius the, which insurer you’re going to, you’re going to look to. And, um, 

Yeah. Okay. And is there any sort of, um, drastic difference between a, a tyre provider and an international provider, or is it not as simple as that? Or is it more intricate? 

Yeah, I think you’ll find that, um, international providers, particularly with families, they do, they do have, um, I don’t want to use the word deals, but they do. They, you know, they do have, uh, great premiums for, you know, for, for children actually. Um, you know, the type of the Thai company still also, but the international providers just tend to have, tend to have that bit about 

It has a bit more geared up for ex-pat family, sort of. 

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And, you know, and, and, you know, and if you are an expat family, you know, the beauty of that is that, you know, when, when it’s school half term or summer, and you want to take your family away then with an international provider, then you can take that wherever you go, you could be covered under the same terms and conditions. Um, you know, which is that’s the upside of, uh, of a worldwide plan versus, uh, versus a policy, um, you know, versus a local policy that perhaps just covers you within that country, although that might be suitable for some people, you know, um, uh, a single, a single man who they’ve seen, I think Thailand, um, you know, doesn’t really travel much. That’s, that’s, that’s, that’s great, you know, but for a family, I think we’re probably going to travel a bit more, they’d want to look to an international plan. Um, but yeah, that would be my advice. Okay. 

And with regards to a family policy, does that mean that the whole family might need to take medicals before they can start or a policy? 

Um, actually most health insurance policies, these days, most health insurance providers, these days, you do not have to go. You do not have to undergo medical. There’s a medical questionnaire, and that’s basically way you, where everything comes out. You know, obviously you best to be honest and put everything down and then you know exactly where you are and then there’s no bumps in the road on, you know, on the, on, on the way. Um, 

So, um, with the medical, cause I know we talked about this before, and I know from someone that’s had to complete one of these forms, it can be quite tempting to kind of gloss over. Sometimes I don’t even remember incidences and situations that maybe occurred in the past, but that’s something we should probably avoid that, um, that tendency to avoid things. We probably better to overstate if anything what’s happened in the past, am I right? Because if we don’t state something and then they can later on find that there was a previous situation we could end up in, uh, being less covered than we might otherwise be. Is that right? 

Um, I mean, actually I’ve got, I’ve got quite a sort of short answer for this really is. That’s really where, um, your broker, uh, is worth his salt because that’s where, uh, where unexperienced broker and experienced insurance advisor. And those knows the questions to ask to then evoke whether there’s anything that’s there. So typically, you know, um, if I met someone and say, do you have any preexisting conditions? And then that person said, uh, no, I don’t actually I’m fit as a fiddle. You know? So then my next question would be, do you take any medication quite often, that person will say, um, yes, I do. Actually I take some blood pressure medication, but, um, other than that, I’m absolutely fine. And then my blood pressure is, is, is fantastic now. And then my next, uh, response to that is always like, well, what would happen if you stopped taking that blood pressure medication? 

And the response is, well, my blood pressure would spike. So, you know, it’s just, it’s, it’s knowing the right questions to ask. And I think you’re totally right that when you’re sitting there filling in a form and you feel, you know, you feel totally fit healthy, you kind of, it’s easy to, it’s not being dishonest. It’s just easy to overlook those things. Um, but yeah, it’s, um, you know, if you have someone with experience and knows the right questions to ask, then you’re always going to get everything out and best to have everything out upfront. And then, like I say, you know, that way there’s no surprises down the line. And then when you do come to claim, um, you know, any claim that you do have it’s, it’s, it’s going to be covered. 

Um, cause the underlying thing is the insurance companies, aren’t going to cover you for preexisting conditions, but that’s the, the famous phrase. And even though we might try or love them to do so they’re not going to, so we we’ve got a Mazda, get it on that form anyway, so that it’s clear and you’re paying the right premium for the right cover. And if there is a pre-existing condition, they might say, okay, well we’ll cover you for insurance, but except for this bit. So am I right? That’s how it would work per potentially. 

Yeah, that’s it? Yeah. I mean the majority of providers yeah. They’ll do exactly that. They will, um, divulge that information on the application form. They’ll probably come back, ask a few questions. And from there, they’ll say yes or no as to whether they’ll, they’ll, they’ll cover that condition. Um, and then when you get the terms back, then they say, right, everything’s covered apart from this, this and this. Um, but then you have to, you do have some insurance, like much like larger companies, like Cigna, for example, a huge, huge provider. Um, they’re able to spread more of the risks. So, you know, when it comes to things like blood pressure with a company like Cigna, not a problem, you know, they may, or they may even say like, you know, if you, you pay an extra 5% on your premium, then we will cover that condition for you. So there’s always options. There’s always a way around these. 

Okay. And that’s again, a work with your broker to navigate those fields, to understand what the options are. I think, work closely with them. And that’s, that’s really where a broker comes into their role and doing their service right. Is to help you, the person watching this video to navigate that was something they wouldn’t know. So asking the right questions, getting the right answers and, and getting the right information so they can make an informed choice. 

Exactly. You know, I mean, um, you know, from time to time, it does happen where I think someone, uh, and then they might say, um, I have diabetes or high blood pressure cholesterol. Um, and I’ve had a stroke, something like that, for example, are there four really big red flags like that? Um, and in that situation, you know, the insurers potentially not really not actually gonna offer them cover and you know, that would be where I will suggest to them that, you know, in the very rare, in the very rare occasion like this, right. But say to them, but you know, you, you should, self-insure, it’s not something I always recommend people to do. I think it’s a good idea to have insurance, but in that situation, um, that’s going to be the best option. 

My boss might be an option. And do all of companies offer a sort of family, uh, based insurance where perhaps there’s a discount for, for one or more children? Or is it not universally done? 

No. No, it’s the end. It’s, you know, it’s, um, it tends to be from one provider to the next, they all tend to specialise in one thing. Um, you know, you’ve got certain insurance that they’re, that, that their field is in people that arrive at the age of 65. Um, and then you’ve got other insurers that, you know, that that would be the go-to insurance. So for a family, um, you know, and then you’ve got other insurance that perhaps, um, have a lower premium or, you know, um, yeah, it’s just dependent upon the provider. Sure. 

Okay. So I’m assuming then for anyone that’s perhaps watching this and wants to get a bit more information, the best way to proceed is basically get in contact with you directly, um, get the details to you and then you can sort of start the process. 

Exactly. Yeah. I mean, all that’s required is someone’s date of birth. Um, and then from there, you know, I can get information, uh, quote over and then following that, perhaps a maintain and, um, and, uh, discuss it further and go, 

Oh, one question for a family unit. Does it have to be husband and wife, but legally husband and wife? 

No, actually, no, no, no it doesn’t. No, no, it doesn’t have to be legally husband and my, well, actually it doesn’t have to be, they don’t even have to be legally your children, you know, if you’ve adopted those children or perhaps you have a guy that’s married, a woman who perhaps has three or four kids already, so they’re not actually biologically his children. Um, you know, even if they’re not married, then you can still get those, those children covered. Um, and another really good feature as well is that when, if, if someone’s pregnant, once the child is born, as you, all you need to do is just give the name of the, of the child and they can be insured immediately. Right. Right. From the moment they go on. 

Great. Perfect. Okay. I think we wrap it up there. If anyone’s interested in learning more information about getting their family insurance, then please contact Andy and I’ll include all the links there. And you can also look at that for you and give you right. All the information, that’s it. And that’s it from me. And I think any aspects you want to say, 

That’s it for me? That’s it. Cool. 

All right. Thanks guys. And hope to speak to you soon. 

Thanks. Bye-bye