Allianz General Insurance Malaysia Bhd revealed that there has been a surge in the number of policyholders who chose to include the special perils cover as part of their private car comprehensive cover in early January 2022.

Specifically, the insurer recorded an increased take-up rate of 22% for the special perils cover – including both new and renewed policies – during the period of 1 to 17 January 2022 alone. This translates to approximately 15,000 out of 68,000 customers. In comparison, only 11% policyholders (123,000 out of 1.11 million policyholders) opted to include the special perils cover as part of their motor vehicle insurance last year.

To clarify, Allianz General’s special perils cover under its motor insurance (comprehensive cover) offers protection against flood, windstorm, landslide, or subsidence for some additional premium. This is on top of other optional benefits that policyholders can also purchase, including windscreen damage, passenger liability cover, as well as strike, riot, and civil commotion coverage.

The chief executive officer of Allianz General, Sean Wang attributed this spike to the devastating floods that took place during the end of 2021, adding that the catastrophe is clear proof of the necessity of insurance. He said that this is especially true when people have assets to protect.

“Yet, Malaysians are grossly under-insured as people favour a cheaper policy when choosing to forgo flood cover. There is a need to break the vicious cycle of economising our insurance policy. Either that, or we risk continuing to be under-insured and short-changing ourselves in the process,” said Wang in a statement.

Lastly, Wang emphasised that it is fairly easy for the public to purchase insurance for their homes or vehicles through various channels, including Allianz General itself, intermediaries or platforms like Pos Malaysia, online insurance markets, or even insurtech start-ups. He also said that some of Allianz General’s policies come with the special perils cover at no extra charge – such as the Allianz Motorcycle Plus policy – to provide added value.

(Source: The Malaysian Reserve)

• TAGS:
• Allianz General Insurance
• Allianz General Private Car Comprehensive Coverage
• Allianz General Special Perils Cover
• Floods
• Motor Vehicle Insurance
• Sean Wang