Aia Insurance

[wcr]

I have had AIA health insurance for 4 years whilst in Thailand, and 2 years ago upgraded to a Cancer policy. Last year I got colon cancer, had the op in Pattaya. Following compilcations I stayed in hospital for 2.5 months. Total bill 3M Baht. I got paid an initial 200,000 Baht and was told I would have to wait for the rest. Now in October and after the claim went in in January I have finally (and after a lot of chasing) been told the balance will be paid to me. The maount is 69,000 Baht.

Unbelievable. I can't understand why its so little. In typical Thai style my insurance agent is no frigging use, just saying "thats all company give"

So my warning is do not use AIA for health insurance.

[Moonrakers]

We had AIA insurance for our daughter.

Recently we were informed by a friend that due to our daughter since being diagnosed with epilepsy then she is now not covered, even though we took out the policy BEFORE we were aware of her condition.

My wife challenged the person who sold us the policy over this and her advice to us was that we should get the doctor to basically lie over her condition in the event of a claim.

Needless to say we dropped them like a hot brick.

[Comehome]

Thank you for the warning!

We are just looking into insurances at the moment, since the one we currently have is about to run out.

Will definatly put the AIA-papers aside after reading this.

Thanks for sharing and helping others!

/Comehome

[cathyy]

I have read the coverages for several different insurance companies in Thailand, and they differ very little. You must be very careful to note the coverage limits not just in total, but the limits for specific types of coverage, and to note all the excluded conditions. Pretty much anything you might actually get or anything that is expensive to treat is excluded or has an artificially low coverage limit.

Edited October 22, 2008 by cathyy

[yeti]

Re-read your policy, see if they have a leg to stand on. If you think they should pay for the 3 million baht contact the Consumer Protection Board and/or the government agency in charge of insurance (can't remember the name).

[madmitch]

I have had AIA health insurance for 4 years whilst in Thailand, and 2 years ago upgraded to a Cancer policy. Last year I got colon cancer, had the op in Pattaya. Following compilcations I stayed in hospital for 2.5 months. Total bill 3M Baht. I got paid an initial 200,000 Baht and was told I would have to wait for the rest. Now in October and after the claim went in in January I have finally (and after a lot of chasing) been told the balance will be paid to me. The maount is 69,000 Baht.

Unbelievable. I can't understand why its so little. In typical Thai style my insurance agent is no frigging use, just saying "thats all company give"

So my warning is do not use AIA for health insurance.

Is your policy in English? If so read it very carefully. Look at the sub-limits in particular. Work out what you believe you should be paid.

If your policy isn't in English then why did you buy it in the first place? When it comes to insurance you need to know what you are buying. Thai insurance agents are not well-trained, about two days and they consider themselves insurance professionals.

[ilyushin]

Amateur Insurance Agents ( AIA )

I had a full coverage policy. Had an accident, got treatment, they refused to pay, I dropped them.

Look around their are many others.

OP, I also would have another look at the policy and then make a case.

Get well soon and get even too!

[wcr]

Thanks guys.

I am well know, and back home in the UK. Got given the all clear in August. Had another op here in September, and all is well.

As for the insurance, it was in Thai with an English sumary. I didn't expect the complete sum as it was over the excess. However I was told by my agent who worked everything out for me that I should expect another 500,000 Baht on top of the 200,000 already recieved. OK, it doesn't cover, but it pays a fair chunk. However to only get 69,000 is an insult.

[madmitch]

As a general suggestion to ant farang taking out an insurance policy in Thailand, particularly health insurance, although it may be more expensive I would suggest only buying policies written in the English language.

Also remember you get what you pay for. Cheapest is not best.

Be careful and take professional advice if necessary from a reputable broker or insurer, not the commission-driven agent who will try to sell you anything.

wcr, glad you're OK if quite a lot out-of-pocket..

[pluto_manibo]

Wcr, which insurance have you opted for? Congrats on the recovery, all the best!

[wcr]

Wcr, which insurance have you opted for? Congrats on the recovery, all the best!

Not sure what you mean by this question?

[chiangmaibruce]

I am not up on health insurance in Thailand - either in terms of the usual terms and conditions AND in terms of your rights if the insurance company doesn't meet their obligations.

There is another option though - at least with respect to critical illnesses like cancer.- that might suit some people. This is to take out critical illness cover in your home country that provides world-wide cover. You MAY then benefit from more generous payouts and better consumer protection (and better trained advisors). Obviously you need to do your homework on this.

It is often better value to take out this type of serious illness (trauma) cover in conjunction with life insurance (also be sure it has world-wide cover). When I say world-wide cover you need to ensure that this does not cut out after (say) 3 months abroad as some policies do.

[CarlBkk]

Can anyone who has taken out health insurance here in Thailand (and who have been happy with it so far) recommend some companies?

[bunnaag]

Can anyone who has taken out health insurance here in Thailand (and who have been happy with it so far) recommend some companies?

check the web site www.iag.co.th I took out a travelinsurance with them.In Europe I had to go to the hospital the bill came to 3600 Euro.They transferred the money within two month after submitting the details to my bank account.I will also insure my wife with them who at the moment is insured with BUPA.

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Take care, AIA cannot offer straight medical insurance as they are a ‘Life’ company and not a general insurance company. To get around the ‘law’ they sell the medical cover with Life cover so you are in fact paying for something you did not (maybe) want.

Our advice for medical cover is to use a company that specializes in medical insurance.

The easiest way is to use your own Broker – Thai Visa Insurance

http://insurance.thaivisa.com/quote-form

[Flow]

Amateur Insurance Agents ( AIA )

Very true what you're saying and not just AIA, many of them are just AMATEURS or shall I say ruthless businesses. You see those glossy brochures with "we care" crap. All bull.

I am with Premier now. Fingers crossed. Hope they deliver what is in the policy wording, especially if you forked out 78,000 Baht for the yearly premium. LMG I heard offers something quality also, 100% full coverage, I think for around 40k but IPD only though. Anyone insured through LMG?

To OP,

If you don't mind me asking; how much did you pay for the insurance?

[wcr]

Amateur Insurance Agents ( AIA )

Very true what you're saying and not just AIA, many of them are just AMATEURS or shall I say ruthless businesses. You see those glossy brochures with "we care" crap. All bull.

I am with Premier now. Fingers crossed. Hope they deliver what is in the policy wording, especially if you forked out 78,000 Baht for the yearly premium. LMG I heard offers something quality also, 100% full coverage, I think for around 40k but IPD only though. Anyone insured through LMG?

To OP,

If you don't mind me asking; how much did you pay for the insurance?

I had had the insurance for 5 years in total I think. Upgraded to cover Cancer 6 months before I got diagnosed with Cancer. The total premium I think was 40,000 Baht and I was 44 when I upgraded

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Amateur Insurance Agents ( AIA )

Very true what you're saying and not just AIA, many of them are just AMATEURS or shall I say ruthless businesses. You see those glossy brochures with "we care" crap. All bull.

I am with Premier now. Fingers crossed. Hope they deliver what is in the policy wording, especially if you forked out 78,000 Baht for the yearly premium. LMG I heard offers something quality also, 100% full coverage, I think for around 40k but IPD only though. Anyone insured through LMG?

To OP,

If you don't mind me asking; how much did you pay for the insurance?

LMG are a good company and are on the Thai Visa Insurance approved list.

Please note they do offer everything – IPD and OPD – however you can choose to opt out of the OPD if you wish.

[nohave]

Shame on you AIA !

[stingray]

There is all about commisison for the agents. I have a very close friend. He was insured at the age of 67 years by the upon named insurance company. Usally the don't insure peaple over 65. So finally he got sick and the insurance din't paid anything, because they "just find" (?) out, that the agent who works for them and sold the insurance policy, "faket" the birth day on the copy of the customers passport, just to final the deal and get the sales commission. This was not a "wild brooker" this was their own agent with a license.

Another company i can recommend wery highly is: [reason for edit url removed]

[wcr]

UPDATE

I have just been told that AIA will actually now be paying out 260,000 Baht. The insurance rep got it wrong. No surprizes there then? They are paying me by 2 cheques, one for 60,000 and one for 200,000. The agent only told me about the first one!

So, they will have paid me out 460,000 in total. The total hospital costs were 700,000 Baht.

[Surin2001]

The levels of protection are clearly defined in most policys and who would take out a policy without knowing the limits available and conditions ? best to read first than find out the hard way later,we are all in different positions and have different ideas on what we are looking for.

But to check you have the levels of cover you require i would assume to be a essential first step.

[kingwillly]

that's terrible, unhappy to hear of your plight.

Edited November 19, 2008 by kingwillly

[elfe]

There is all about commisison for the agents. I have a very close friend. He was insured at the age of 67 years by the upon named insurance company. Usally the don't insure peaple over 65. So finally he got sick and the insurance din't paid anything, because they "just find" (?) out, that the agent who works for them and sold the insurance policy, "faket" the birth day on the copy of the customers passport, just to final the deal and get the sales commission. This was not a "wild brooker" this was their own agent with a license.

Another company i can recommend wery highly is: [reason for edit url removed]

so which one is that?

[equinox]

Nothing wrong with AIA insurance policies... I have several. But as a company they suck big time. They are just corporate thugs and bullies in suits. Just read this to see how disgustingly they treat their OWN loyal aia insurance agents. www.aiathailand.com

[JoePai]

Nothing wrong with AIA insurance policies... I have several. But as a company they suck big time. They are just corporate thugs and bullies in suits. Just read this to see how disgustingly they treat their OWN loyal aia insurance agents. www.aiathailand.com

Nothing wrong but far too expensive as they have to include Life insurance - big com for life. Stay away and go to real medical company

[jfchandler]

LMG has good medical policies/coverage for Thailand at reasonable prices.... inpatient and optional outpatient available.

All my policy documents, including their list of direct pay hospitals and all policy limitations and exclusions, are in English. Each year with renewal I get an updated set from my very good Thai insurance broker.

In three years of coverage, I've had just one claims beef with LMG, and that involved a situation where one of their claims reps made a representation to my broker (regarding their willingness to cover something that was borderline under the terms of my policy) that later after the procedure was not honored by LMG.

In the end, once my broker intervened, LMG ended up covering half of the disputed item and my broker reimbursed me directly for the remainder, because I had gone ahead with a procedure based on their word that it would be covered. It was only an issue of a few thousand baht (under 10K), but I took it as an issue of principal. My broker's willingness to step up to the plate and pay out of their own pocket reinforced my perception of them as a first-rate operation.

[MonPengCarabao]

Amateur Insurance Agents ( AIA )

Very true what you're saying and not just AIA, many of them are just AMATEURS or shall I say ruthless businesses. You see those glossy brochures with "we care" crap. All bull.

I am with Premier now. Fingers crossed. Hope they deliver what is in the policy wording, especially if you forked out 78,000 Baht for the yearly premium. LMG I heard offers something quality also, 100% full coverage, I think for around 40k but IPD only though. Anyone insured through LMG?

To OP,

If you don't mind me asking; how much did you pay for the insurance?

LMG are a good company and are on the Thai Visa Insurance approved list.

Please note they do offer everything – IPD and OPD – however you can choose to opt out of the OPD if you wish.

I have been looking at the LMG policy and if you exclude OPD and take a 100,000 baht deductible you get a massive 52.5% off the listed premium, am I reading this right? I would also like to pay 6 monthly as it suits my budget better, is this possible?

[JRinger]

Amateur Insurance Agents ( AIA )

Very true what you're saying and not just AIA, many of them are just AMATEURS or shall I say ruthless businesses. You see those glossy brochures with "we care" crap. All bull.

I am with Premier now. Fingers crossed. Hope they deliver what is in the policy wording, especially if you forked out 78,000 Baht for the yearly premium. LMG I heard offers something quality also, 100% full coverage, I think for around 40k but IPD only though. Anyone insured through LMG?

To OP,

If you don't mind me asking; how much did you pay for the insurance?

LMG are a good company and are on the Thai Visa Insurance approved list.

Please note they do offer everything – IPD and OPD – however you can choose to opt out of the OPD if you wish.

I was in the LMG office yesterday to renew my auto insurance and asked about health insurance and the girl didn't have any information/brochures in English. She called Bangkok and they told her they don't have any information in English !!! I also tried their websites and when clicking on "English" nothing happens...I've heard from others that they have good & thorough health policies but HOW to get information???? .....and as far as AIA is concerned, they can kiss my &*#@. I signed up with them through a neighbor friend then after about a month I was informed that they don't insure "farangs" for accident insurance.

I called several times to the main office in Bkk to find out WHY and no one could tell me anything....they suck bigtime...and by the way, AIA Thailand has 85 Billion Baht in assets.(do a google search of AIA Thailand if you need "source".

Edited October 30, 2010 by JRinger

[JRinger]

LMG has good medical policies/coverage for Thailand at reasonable prices.... inpatient and optional outpatient available.

All my policy documents, including their list of direct pay hospitals and all policy limitations and exclusions, are in English. Each year with renewal I get an updated set from my very good Thai insurance broker.

In three years of coverage, I've had just one claims beef with LMG, and that involved a situation where one of their claims reps made a representation to my broker (regarding their willingness to cover something that was borderline under the terms of my policy) that later after the procedure was not honored by LMG.

In the end, once my broker intervened, LMG ended up covering half of the disputed item and my broker reimbursed me directly for the remainder, because I had gone ahead with a procedure based on their word that it would be covered. It was only an issue of a few thousand baht (under 10K), but I took it as an issue of principal. My broker's willingness to step up to the plate and pay out of their own pocket reinforced my perception of them as a first-rate operation.

could I trouble you to PM your brokers contact info?