Malaysians have been urged to insure themselves and their loved ones sufficiently, given the rising trend in claims payout that was seen in the past two years.

According to the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM), Malaysia’s total claims payout had surged by 14.9%, from RM13.4 billion in 2022 to RM15.4 billion in 2023. This was driven primarily by a 41.4% hike in disability payment and a 26.2% rise in medical claims.

President of LIAM, Raymond Lew further said that the surge in claims payout can also be attributed to Malaysia’s high medical inflation rate. “If [one is] not insured now, what would happen to families when an illness hits their sole breadwinner or if he or she dies?” he said.

Meanwhile, chief executive officer of LIAM, Mark O’Dell commented that insurance premiums are expected to continue its climb up, pressured on – unfortunately – by higher medical claims. In the long run, this could be a problem as Malaysia transitions to become an ageing society, with senior individuals in their 70s and 80s having limited options for medical coverage and incident rates hiking.

“Premiums are going up, and if it continues to increase, senior citizens won’t be able to afford insurance. This is the problem that we are dealing with. Additionally, if you are not insured before you’re 65 or 70 years old, you cannot get insured after, as no company would be willing to sell a brand-new policy to someone over 70,” O’Dell stressed.

Finally, O’Dell revealed that only about 45% of Malaysians are currently estimated to be insured, with some of them having more than one plan. “If you count policies per capita, it’s closer to 60%. There’s still a long way to go,” he stated, noting that LIAM will continue to run initiatives to increase public awareness.

(Sources: The Edge Malaysia, The Star)

• TAGS:
• LIAM
• Life Insurance
• Life Insurance Association of Malaysia
• Life Insurance Premium
• Mark O’Dell
• Raymond Lew