OA Insurance - taking longer than expected

[sqwakvfr]

Pacific Cross is not as fast they claim.  I applied 6 weeks ago, did not need a medical exam, paid the premium 3 weeks and this week I received through email a 4 page document that states the policy i purchased is Non Imm OA Police Order complaint.  I am still waiting for the actual policy documents.  

[Peter Denis]

9 hours ago, Lim Yuan Hai said:

I couldn't renew my non-OA extension because IO at Chaengwattana immigration asked for health insurance which I do not have one.

How can I buy health insurance fast?  
What is O and how can I get O because 15,000 THB is good enough?

I did PM you a comprehensive roadmap on how to switch from an extension of an original OA Visa based on retirement, to a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.

It's not difficult at all and does not involve much paperwork.

So no need to sign up for the bogus health-insurance when you can still embark on that road.

[Sheryl]

Among people opting to get the insurance required for OA extension the vast majority are choosing Pacific Cross and understandably so. Unless you are under 60 (and thus able to get AETNA with guaranteed lifetime renewal) it is pretty clearly the best (or least worst) of the options. It is also the only one that makes an affordable accompaniment to a foreign policy thanks to its deductible options.

 

Consequently they are handling  a sudden surge in applications. And this inevitably affects processing times. 

[fishtank]

3 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Pacific Cross is not as fast they claim.  I applied 6 weeks ago, did not need a medical exam, paid the premium 3 weeks and this week I received through email a 4 page document that states the policy i purchased is Non Imm OA Police Order complaint.  I am still waiting for the actual policy documents.  

lets hope that their claims dept is a lot more efficient than the application dept.

If you ever get a reply to an E Mail you just get fobbed off with BS.

[Lim Yuan Hai]

3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

I did PM you a comprehensive roadmap on how to switch from an extension of an original OA Visa based on retirement, to a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.

It's not difficult at all and does not involve much paperwork.

So no need to sign up for the bogus health-insurance when you can still embark on that road.

One person offered to bring me to another province to get the extension done without needing health insurance. Is it legal and are there other possible troubles in future including 90 days reporting (should I report 90 days to the province where I get extension or to the Chaengwattana immigration?) because I have been living in Sukhumvit? 

My extension will end on 18 Jan 2020.
I have decided not to convert to the non-O and this is my final extension (I will left the Bangkok around end of August 2020, hence, only need around 7 months extension). Only another possible way is to buy cheapest health insurance at the  fastest possible way.
"15000 THB annual premium for a thai-approved health-insurance that will meet the OA - retirement extension requirement for health-insurance" Quoted. It sound good enough to me. How to and where to get it, and what are their other requirements?

Thank you and have a nice weekend, Peter.

[Peter Denis]

2 minutes ago, Lim Yuan Hai said:

One person offered to bring me to another province to get the extension done without needing health insurance. Is it legal and are there other possible troubles in future including 90 days reporting (should I report 90 days to the province where I get extension or to the Chaengwattana immigration?) because I have been living in Sukhumvit?

First time that I hear of the possibility to apply for an extension of your original Non Imm OA for reason of retirement in another province that does not enforce the health-insurance requirement.

I would be interested to know the details of where and how it's done.

But imo - if it were possible - it would also necessitate you relocating to that other province before applying for the actual extension.

[Peter Denis]

25 minutes ago, Lim Yuan Hai said:

My extension will end on 18 Jan 2020.
I have decided not to convert to the non-O and this is my final extension (I will left the Bangkok around end of August 2020, hence, only need around 7 months extension). Only another possible way is to buy cheapest health insurance at the  fastest possible way.
"15000 THB annual premium for a thai-approved health-insurance that will meet the OA - retirement extension requirement for health-insurance" Quoted. It sound good enough to me. How to and where to get it, and what are their other requirements?

Your permission to stay based on your original OA - retirement Visa expires 18 Jan 2020, and you plan to leave Thailand August 2020, so you only need to 'bridge' 7 months.

And there are several options to do so.

Simply subscribing to the cheapest possible thai-approved health-insurance could hence be an option.  But the premium is heavily age-related, so there will be no way when you are in your 60s or 70s to get if for 15.000 THB.  Also you need to choose for the highest deductible possible (300.000 THB) in order to get the price down as much as possible.  So you should contact PacificCross and ask them for the cheapest solution possible for your age. 

If that's too expensive, you can still do a quick border-hop and apply for a Non Imm O - retirement Visa at your local IO.  That would cost you max 7000 THB and will cover already 5 months.  Doing a second borderhop (and extension) will cover the last 2 months.

I already PM-ed you a detailed step-by-step roadmap on how to do that.

 

[Lim Yuan Hai]

8 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

First time that I hear of the possibility to apply for an extension of your original Non Imm OA for reason of retirement in another province that does not enforce the health-insurance requirement.

I would be interested to know the details of where and how it's done.

But imo - if it were possible - it would also necessitate you relocating to that other province before applying for the actual extension.

I am interested to know the details, however, that person do not speak English well.
Even though it is possible, I think I better don't do this way so as to avoid possible troubles in future. Only possible option is to buy cheapest health insurance as fast as possible.

Can anyone advise? Thank you. 

[Lim Yuan Hai]

3 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Pacific Cross is not as fast they claim.  I applied 6 weeks ago, did not need a medical exam, paid the premium 3 weeks and this week I received through email a 4 page document that states the policy i purchased is Non Imm OA Police Order complaint.  I am still waiting for the actual policy documents.  

Hi, Is this (email a 4 page document that states the policy i purchased is Non Imm OA Police Order complaint) good enough to get the extension done or the actual policy documents are needed to get the extension done?

Actually what documents an IO needed?  

[Peter Denis]

4 minutes ago, Lim Yuan Hai said:

Hi, Is this (email a 4 page document that states the policy i purchased is Non Imm OA Police Order complaint) good enough to get the extension done or the actual policy documents are needed to get the extension done?
Actually what documents an IO needed?  

IO will not accept the actual policy document as evidence that you meet the health-insurance requirement.

They want to see the Certificate issued by the insurance-company stating that your policy meets the IO requirements. 

As this is Thailand, additional evidence may be required by some IOs

- A report has been posted of an IO that wanted to see the ORIGINAL certificate with the 3 signatures (2 from directors);

- A report has been posted of an idiot IO that also wanted to see proof that the insurance has actually been paid for.

IMPORTANT > Your insurance-company should file your policy in the IO database, so that IO can check there that it is genuine (to avoid certificate fraud).  A report has been posted by a TVF member where his insurance-company had not done that, and he had to telephone them wile doing his extension to get it arranged on the spot.

[moontang]

Nonthaburi wanted the entire package and a copy of the card..he checked the invoice, too.

[Lim Yuan Hai]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 10:12 AM, sqwakvfr said:

Pacific Cross is not as fast they claim.  I applied 6 weeks ago, did not need a medical exam, paid the premium 3 weeks and this week I received through email a 4 page document that states the policy i purchased is Non Imm OA Police Order complaint.  I am still waiting for the actual policy documents.  

Did you apply at their office or apply online/email? I am wondering why it took so long.

[Lim Yuan Hai]

Many people said Pacific Cross took very long to process. One even complained he waited 6 weeks but not done yet. My extension of non-OA will be expired in about 4 weeks’ time, worst, now is festive season.

Can anyone please advise which insurance company is processing fast with reasonable premium?

Thank you

[Langsuan Man]

One of the things that any reasonable government would do would be to vet insurance companies before giving them a license to print money

 

Would you fly Thai if they can't tell you when your flight is going to leave ? Of course not, but you are expected to buy mandatory insurance from  company(ies) that can't process an application in less than 6 weeks 

 

I wonder what the Thai insurance industry promised in exchange for this sweet heart anti foreign insurance monopoly 

 

Obviously,  not the ability to write policies quickly 

[Sheryl]

13 hours ago, Lim Yuan Hai said:

Many people said Pacific Cross took very long to process. One even complained he waited 6 weeks but not done yet. My extension of non-OA will be expired in about 4 weeks’ time, worst, now is festive season.

Can anyone please advise which insurance company is processing fast with reasonable premium?

Thank you

As I have already advised in other thread you should go through a broker familiar with the immigration insurance requirement.

 

They will have the most up to date information on all options and also be able to help push for quick turn around. And they will help afterwards if necessary to get the needed certificate for immigration and on any issues related to eventual claims under the policy.

 

I have already provided recommendation for broker who can do this in other thread.

 

As it costs nothing additional I can't understand why you refuse to do this and instead keep posting on different threads basically asking TV members to do a broker's job for you.

 

Please contact the broker.

 

[Kadilo]

33 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

As I have already advised in other thread you should go through a broker familiar with the immigration insurance requirement.

 

They will have the most up to date information on all options and also be able to help push for quick turn around. And they will help afterwards if necessary to get the needed certificate for immigration and on any issues related to eventual claims under the policy.

 

I have already provided recommendation for broker who can do this in other thread.

 

As it costs nothing additional I can't understand why you refuse to do this and instead keep posting on different threads basically asking TV members to do a broker's job for you.

 

Please contact the broker.

 

From memory, was it AA you recommended Sheryl?

Would you mind posting the link again in here. 
 

many thanks. 

[britishjohn]

On 12/21/2019 at 9:10 AM, Peter Denis said:

I will PM you a comprehensive roadmap on how to switch from an extension of an original OA Visa based on retirement, to a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.

Contrary to what you might think, It's not difficult at all and does not involve much paperwork.

So if you did not sign up yet for the bogus health-insurance you could still embark on that road.

Thanks I got your PM. One thing I don't understand. the financial requirements are stated as:

 

5.1 A letter of guarantee from the bank in Thailand in Thai language (Attention: Immigration Commissioner) 
5.2 Copy of all entries of the applicant’s passbook showing that the applicant has a savings or fixed deposit account of not less than Baht 800,000 (all documents must be in the Applicant’s name) 
5.3 Evidence of foreign currency fund transferred to Thailand 

**(Documents under 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 must be issued and updated to be the same date of the Application and all documents must be in the Applicant’s name.

 

Why do they need 5.3 ? I thought if you have the money in a Thai bank you don't need to prove it came from overseas. 

 

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, britishjohn said:

Why do they need 5.3 ? I thought if you have the money in a Thai bank you don't need to prove it came from overseas. 

For an extension of stay it is not required due to the need to have the money in the bank for 2 months.

For the non immigrant visa application is required due to it only needing to be in the bank on the day you apply for the visa. Some offices may accept it without the proof if the money has been in the bank for long time.

[britishjohn]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

For an extension of stay it is not required due to the need to have the money in the bank for 2 months.

For the non immigrant visa application is required due to it only needing to be in the bank on the day you apply for the visa. Some offices may accept it without the proof if the money has been in the bank for long time.

Yes but I have been looking at this in the context of switching to an O. So the application would be for a new visa. Since my funds came via Transferwise I could have difficulty in proving they came from overseas. And if that's the case my application for an O could already be looking dodgy. What are your thoughts  ? 

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, Kadilo said:

From memory, was it AA you recommended Sheryl?

Would you mind posting the link again in here. 
 

many thanks. 

www.aainsure.net

[Lim Yuan Hai]

10 hours ago, Sheryl said:

As I have already advised in other thread you should go through a broker familiar with the immigration insurance requirement.

 

They will have the most up to date information on all options and also be able to help push for quick turn around. And they will help afterwards if necessary to get the needed certificate for immigration and on any issues related to eventual claims under the policy.

 

I have already provided recommendation for broker who can do this in other thread.

 

As it costs nothing additional I can't understand why you refuse to do this and instead keep posting on different threads basically asking TV members to do a broker's job for you.

 

Please contact the broker.

 

I have written email to her once I received your recommendation (21 Dec), thank you for that. Hence, I have no choice but to seek advise from anyone who have experienced about it.

However, she did only reply today (23 Dec).

[Sheryl]

7 minutes ago, Lim Yuan Hai said:

I have written email to her once I received your recommendation (21 Dec), thank you for that. Hence, I have no choice but to seek advise from anyone who have experienced about it.

However, she did only reply today (23 Dec).

21st was Saturday. Their office hours are Mon-Fri. (Same is true of sales staff at insurance co.) So a Monday reply was very prompt.

[fishtank]

My policy pack from Pacific Cross actually turned up yesterday.

So it does get sorted eventually.

[lapamita]

On 12/20/2019 at 4:35 AM, Martyp said:

Not necessarily. I have a Pacific Cross Maxima Plus policy for a very good price. Less than my US insurance was and with a discount this second year. 

not any insurance here is value , do not compare to US, compare it to simmilar countrys like Spain or turkey , cost for same insurance !! SAME company !!! in spain , with higher payouts is 50% cheaper ( it incl OPD and reha whats not the case in thai) and in turkey more than 60%.

 

i have insurance here, very unhappy//yearly price increases ( without changing age group) , maximum payouts will stay the same until i dead, and eaten by inflation. 

 

When i done it eyars ago ,compared a lot,and all not worth,as of my research.the best  one was KT AXA who denied my application (not denied , but do to smoking the base premimum increased 50% for a contract),they made full checkup for free,no waiting time,min requierment 180days in thailand, a real insurance. 10mb contract no exclusions no waiting time  even incl hiv..price 50yr = 60.000 year ..very good ........but i cant take due to smoking, base increase 50% and a forward  calculation ends up when i am 70 would cost 477.000 THb premium a year.

 

The insurance i take , only 5mb ( regular contract without special premium i have) , cost me after years already more tan KT would charge, even without any payout for healthreason. ( aetna)

very unhappy..and the 5mb today=are cut since make the contract about 30-40% due to inflation..meaning already pay 50% more nearly since start of contract  on the other hand inflation adjusted payouts max are down 30%

 

Changing insurance no option due to waitingtime 2 years for payouts on serious desases

 

Watchout for a forward calculation of your insurance incl estimate inflation adjustments , this you can get from the headoffice ( broker dont like to show that or play the importance down)

 

[Martyp]

33 minutes ago, lapamita said:

not any insurance here is value , do not compare to US, compare it to simmilar countrys like Spain or turkey , cost for same insurance !! SAME company !!! in spain , with higher payouts is 50% cheaper ( it incl OPD and reha whats not the case in thai) and in turkey more than 60%.

 

i have insurance here, very unhappy//yearly price increases ( without changing age group) , maximum payouts will stay the same until i dead, and eaten by inflation. 

 

When i done it eyars ago ,compared a lot,and all not worth,as of my research.the best  one was KT AXA who denied my application (not denied , but do to smoking the base premimum increased 50% for a contract),they made full checkup for free,no waiting time,min requierment 180days in thailand, a real insurance. 10mb contract no exclusions no waiting time  even incl hiv..price 50yr = 60.000 year ..very good ........but i cant take due to smoking, base increase 50% and a forward  calculation ends up when i am 70 would cost 477.000 THb premium a year.

 

The insurance i take , only 5mb ( regular contract without special premium i have) , cost me after years already more tan KT would charge, even without any payout for healthreason. ( aetna)

very unhappy..and the 5mb today=are cut since make the contract about 30-40% due to inflation..meaning already pay 50% more nearly since start of contract  on the other hand inflation adjusted payouts max are down 30%

 

Changing insurance no option due to waitingtime 2 years for payouts on serious desases

 

Watchout for a forward calculation of your insurance incl estimate inflation adjustments , this you can get from the headoffice ( broker dont like to show that or play the importance down)

 

Of course I am going to compare to the US. I’m a US citizen and that is the insurance I had for all my adult life. Talk about other insurance all you want but you won’t get a 1 year extension in Thailand without Thai insurance. Given that limited option I am happy with the terms of my Pacific Cross policy.

 

I fully understand that the insurance option depends on your country of origin. People should also be aware, for expats already in Thailand, that there are policies available that are better than the 40,000/400,000 policies required for new O-A applicants.

[britishjohn]

After some chasing, got my policy quote through yesterday also. Around 15,000 bht, although clearly it's not what I'd call much of a health policy with deductible of 300k ! It is nothing more than a piece of paper to get an extension.

 

So I now have the choice to extend using this policy or attempt to switch to an O as advised by some here. However if I make a fresh application for an O, there remains some doubt about having to prove my 800k came from overseas. I only brought the 800k here about 3 months ago and have never used it for an extension previously. And being a generally pessimistic person and assuming that what can go wrong probably will, I'm slightly concerned my O application may get rejected and then I have all sorts of hassle.

 

I'm certainly hearing a lot of negative stories of people getting rejected for various visas fort all sorts of reasons. A friend of mine recently paid 30k for an Muay Thai visa, went to laos with all the paperwork and got refused. he's been there ever since and is now thinking of living there instead. The school previously told him no one has ever been rejected and they have refunded him 20k !

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, britishjohn said:

I only brought the 800k here about 3 months ago and have never used it for an extension previously.

If you transferred it into the country you should still be able to get proof from the bank to prove it came from abroad.

When did you enter the country with a OA visa issued by a embassy or consulate?

 

If you can meet the requirements there should be no problem to apply for a non immigrant visa at immigration.

 

You can easily get one at the consulates in Savannakhet or Penang by showing your updated bank book with 800k baht in the bank and proof of retirement.

[britishjohn]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

If you transferred it into the country you should still be able to get proof from the bank to prove it came from abroad.

When did you enter the country with a OA visa issued by a embassy or consulate?

 

If you can meet the requirements there should be no problem to apply for a non immigrant visa at immigration.

 

You can easily get one at the consulate in Savannakhet or Penang by showing your updated bank book with 800k baht in the bank and proof of retirement.

I came here in March 2018 on my OA.

What do you mean by proof of retirement ?

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, britishjohn said:

I came here in March 2018 on my OA.

When does your current permit to stay end?

 

3 minutes ago, britishjohn said:

What do you mean by proof of retirement ?

A statement you are retired done at your embassy. Proof of a pension and etc. Not sure but even your OA visa might might work for proof.

 

[britishjohn]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

When does your current permit to stay end?

 

A statement you are retired done at your embassy. Proof of a pension and etc. Not sure but even your OA visa might might work for proof.

 

Permission stay expires in jan 2020

I seriously doubt I can get any proof of retirement from my embassy. I don't have a pension as such. I live on other forms of income.