I'm looking for some advice on health insurance. For the past five years, I've been with Cigna and then Chubb.

I was shocked this week when my renewal came, and the premium has gone up nearly 40%due to an increase in age.

I saw an advert for a company called Regency for expats.

Has anybody used this company?

Although they are similar in price, they offer a lot better coverage.

Be grateful for any advice.

Premiums going up more than expected is as certain as night follows day

38 minutes ago, essexman said:

I'm looking for some advice on health insurance. For the past five years, I've been with Cigna and then Chubb.

I was shocked this week when my renewal came, and the premium has gone up nearly 40%due to an increase in age.

I saw an advert for a company called Regency for expats.

Has anybody used this company?

Although they are similar in price, they offer a lot better coverage.

Be grateful for any advice.

The website does not really give much information about who the actual underwriter is. The name is not really well known. I do however not have any experience with them.

Edited August 11Aug 11 by msbkk

3 hours ago, essexman said:

I'm looking for some advice on health insurance. For the past five years, I've been with Cigna and then Chubb.

I was shocked this week when my renewal came, and the premium has gone up nearly 40%due to an increase in age.

I saw an advert for a company called Regency for expats.

Has anybody used this company?

Although they are similar in price, they offer a lot better coverage.

Be grateful for any advice.

I know: The premium will be frozen in case of no claim. Then, only a few percent for a certain time. WRLife, but read the small prints. Alternatively Cigna, Axa, but increasing premiums.

3 hours ago, essexman said:

I'm looking for some advice on health insurance. For the past five years, I've been with Cigna and then Chubb.

I was shocked this week when my renewal came, and the premium has gone up nearly 40%due to an increase in age.

I saw an advert for a company called Regency for expats.

Has anybody used this company?

Although they are similar in price, they offer a lot better coverage.

Be grateful for any advice.

I used Regency for Expats for a few years, but we had a claiming issue so I switched. Been with WRLife for 3+ years now (me and my family). No premium increases if no claims made.

Unfortunately as the risk level rises so does the premium.

I got caught big time with life insurance. The premium was being paid automatically through my superannuation fund (Australia).

I never monitored it. The first thing I knew was when they said my coverage was being cancelled as I turned 65 after 30 years of being with them. The premium at that point was over $600 a month. My fault, I know, but I should have cancelled that rip off years early and saved myself tens of thousands.

Edited August 11Aug 11 by emptypockets

Moved to Insurance forum.

I beleve Regency is a broker, not an insurer.

Some insurers, including Cigna, use five year age bands hence the sudden large increase. Some other insurers increase annually for age, works out about the same over time.

Likelihood of a claim rises sharply with age hence the increase in rates. IMO, an insurer who dies not adjust rates based on age (at least after age 50 ir do) either does not have a financially viable business midek or makes up for it in other ways eg individualized rate hikes based on claims. The latter can result in being priced out once old and/or with chronic illness...exactly when you are unable to get another policy.

Regency for Expats is an intermediary that places their business with its parent company, Regency Assurance.

Regency Assurance is domiciled on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean.

You might want to ask one of the internet search engines whether Nevis is known as a tax and corporate privacy haven or whether it is known for its strong insurance regulation and consumer protections. I suspect you can guess the answer.

10 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Many poor reviews of WRLife on facebook Pattaya groups, all threads here have been closed

maybe all fakes. But you can ask AI

42 minutes ago, D Peter said:

maybe all fakes. But you can ask AI

Not in the comments, just disgruntled customers, no reason to fake them

10 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Many poor reviews of WRLife on facebook Pattaya groups, all threads here have been closed

Plenty of positive ones too. Every insurer will reject claims for pre-existing conditions. If there are poor reviews on this Forum, why close them?

Edited August 12Aug 12 by brewsterbudgen

12 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Plenty of positive ones too. Every insurer will reject claims for pre-existing conditions. If there are poor reviews on this Forum, why close them?

Remember in Thailand the laws on slander/libel are draconian , leaving a negative review on any business leaves you open to action that not only includes the person that wrote the article but the publication that published it

2 minutes ago, howerde said:

Remember in Thailand the laws on slander/libel are draconian , leaving a negative review on any business leaves you open to action that not only includes the person that wrote the article but the publication that published it

......and the weird aspect is............. proving you were telling the truth is no defence.....555

4 minutes ago, howerde said:

Remember in Thailand the laws on slander/libel are draconian , leaving a negative review on any business leaves you open to action that not only includes the person that wrote the article but the publication that published it

Yeah, it's crazy. I think posting personal experiences of issues arising from dealing with different insurers (positive and negative) is OK, and there are plenty of such posts on this Forum, and rightly so. People need to be informed about making important decisions like health insurance.

Edited August 12Aug 12 by brewsterbudgen

34 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yeah, it's crazy. I think posting personal experiences of issues arising from dealing with different insurers (positive and negative) is OK, and there are plenty of such posts on this Forum, and rightly so. People need to be informed about making important decisions like health insurance.

as you have skin in the game check the facebook Pattaya threads, I'd be interested if i was a customer

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

as you have skin in the game check the facebook Pattaya threads, I'd be interested if i was a customer

Indeed. I'm continually monitoring the feedback, especially as I'm coming up for renewal. I've used the same Bangkok based 'expat' broker for years, and he has hundreds of clients. Every year I ask him if there's any reason for switching, but especially as I've been with them for 3 years now, he hasn't given me reason for changing.

21 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Indeed. I'm continually monitoring the feedback, especially as I'm coming up for renewal. I've used the same Bangkok based 'expat' broker for years, and he has hundreds of clients. Every year I ask him if there's any reason for switching, but especially as I've been with them for 3 years now, he hasn't given me reason for changing.

because they are paying the highest commisions.....if you can look for alternatives, similar to the R....mentioned by the original poster

On 8/12/2026 at 8:12 PM, brewsterbudgen said:

I've used the same Bangkok based 'expat' broker for years

Is WRLife classified as a Thai based Insurance business or International because if International I understood that it couldn't (shouldn't) be offered by Thailand based brokers (not that it should make any difference to you)?

This is why AA Insure cannot offer International based policies anymore and Regency, who now own them, set up AA World in India to handle Thai based expats and presumably others with non Thai based plans.

@Etaoin Shrdlu any correction to that please?

5 minutes ago, topt said:

Is WRLife classified as a Thai based Insurance business or International because if International I understood that it couldn't (shouldn't) be offered by Thailand based brokers (not that it should make any difference to you)?

This is why AA Insure cannot offer International based policies anymore and Regency, who now own them, set up AA World in India to handle Thai based expats and presumably others with non Thai based plans.

@Etaoin Shrdlu any correction to that please?

I can only say that I am not party to AA's or Regency's internal decision making, so I can't confirm the reason they may be referring their clients to Regency in India, but it would make a lot of sense if the reason is as you've stated.

27 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

I can only say that I am not party to AA's or Regency's internal decision making, so I can't confirm the reason they may be referring their clients to Regency in India, but it would make a lot of sense if the reason is as you've stated.

50 minutes ago, topt said:

Is WRLife classified as a Thai based Insurance business or International because if International I understood that it couldn't (shouldn't) be offered by Thailand based brokers (not that it should make any difference to you)?

This is why AA Insure cannot offer International based policies anymore and Regency, who now own them, set up AA World in India to handle Thai based expats and presumably others with non Thai based plans.

@Etaoin Shrdlu any correction to that please?

A friend of mine recently was in the hospital for about 1 week. His insurer was WR Life and the total treatment cost about 300,000 Baht. He was told that as WR Life is not in Thailand he has to pay first until WR Life transfers the payment.

1 hour ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

I can only say that I am not party to AA's or Regency's internal decision making, so I can't confirm the reason they may be referring their clients to Regency in India, but it would make a lot of sense if the reason is as you've stated.

Ok sorry I meant more the broker handling of local and international business as it related to a local broker offering WRLife.

5 hours ago, msbkk said:

A friend of mine recently was in the hospital for about 1 week. His insurer was WR Life and the total treatment cost about 300,000 Baht. He was told that as WR Life is not in Thailand he has to pay first until WR Life transfers the payment.

Let us know on this thread if WRlife pay, not unusual for insurance companies to want customers to pay first

8 hours ago, topt said:

Ok sorry I meant more the broker handling of local and international business as it related to a local broker offering WRLife.

Yes, the OIC prohibits licensed brokers from placing their clients' business with offshore insurers. Technically, a broker could lose their license if they are caught, although I am not aware of this happening. More likely is a fine. The OIC does conduct audits of insurance brokers and of course any complaint from a policyholder about an offshore placement made through a local broker could spark an investigation.

Some brokers would use a work-around by having the client pay the offshore insurer directly and then receiving the commission under a different income category in their books. This carries some risk, and given the possible penalty would likely not be worth it.

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Let us know on this thread if WRlife pay, not unusual for insurance companies to want customers to pay first

These treatment costs were paid by WRlife after the patient was discharged from the hospital.

In my 70's and have searched numerous times through the plethora of accident / health insurance companies. I finally went with WR life and not sure it was a good choice. Have not had any claims and the premium remains the same. About 70,000 thb annual with high deductible.

I often wonder when and if I need to file a claim that they will pay. It's really a shot in the dark with these lost cost companies. But BUPA, CIGNA and such were 3x to 4x more expensive. I assume in the future if the premiums increase much, I will just go to self-insurance.

WR Life was listed by Bangkok Hospital Pattaya as one that they will bill direct - but, they may still require a deposit up front until they get a Letter of Guarantee after initial contact with your policy information (same for direct billing any health insurance company - Thailand or International).

One caution if you plan to change insurers, and that is if during your time with current insurer you developed and was treated for a condition, any new Thai insurer (and maybe so with some International insurers) will consider it a pre-existing condition and exclude it from your coverage with the new company.

30 minutes ago, Zimar said:

In my 70's and have searched numerous times through the plethora of accident / health insurance companies. I finally went with WR life and not sure it was a good choice. Have not had any claims and the premium remains the same. About 70,000 thb annual with high deductible.

I often wonder when and if I need to file a claim that they will pay. It's really a shot in the dark with these lost cost companies. But BUPA, CIGNA and such were 3x to 4x more expensive. I assume in the future if the premiums increase much, I will just go to self-insurance.

3 years of 70k would be easy enough to pay for a hip op etc

On 8/12/2026 at 3:32 PM, howerde said:

Remember in Thailand the laws on slander/libel are draconian , leaving a negative review on any business leaves you open to action that not only includes the person that wrote the article but the publication that published it

There are ways and means...

I remember a personal reference from a former employer told me that someone we had taken on was "As honest as he is hard-working.". We didn't think he was hard-working so he didn't survive his trial period.

1 hour ago, soisanuk said:

WR Life was listed by Bangkok Hospital Pattaya as one that they will bill direct - but, they may still require a deposit up front until they get a Letter of Guarantee after initial contact with your policy information (same for direct billing any health insurance company - Thailand or International).

One caution if you plan to change insurers, and that is if during your time with current insurer you developed and was treated for a condition, any new Thai insurer (and maybe so with some International insurers) will consider it a pre-existing condition and exclude it from your coverage with the new company.

Yes, that's one of the reasons I will probably remain with WRLife. They know the meds I take, and I've got 3 years of no claims.

On 8/12/2026 at 3:36 PM, MIke B Bad said:

......and the weird aspect is............. proving you were telling the truth is no defence.....555

I read recently that a new law is under review. It was posted as "the lemon law". Presumably because it will deal with Sour Minds.

Anybody else heard follow ups?