Thaivisainsurance...could You Clarify Your Position

[phetaroi]

Since you are the most widely posting "person" in this part of the forum, could you clarify what your position is? Or are you even one person...or several? I assume you're not just an interested poster. Are you a broker? An agent?

It's not that I have a problem with any of those (or similar) positions, I just like a little transparency from someone whose advice I consider taking.

Thank you!

[ThaivisaInsurance]

Good Morning Phetaroi

As you have noticed we (AA Insurance Brokers) are the poster of many of the answers from Thai Visa members.

We have a full Brokers license at "Company" level from the O.I.C. and as such can offer insurance from all the companies in Thailand.

We are in the fortunate position of having offices throughout Thailand and having all our Staff licensed in their own right and able to speak primarily in English/Thai but also several other languages.

Best Regards

[jazzbo]

...we are ... the poster of many of the answers from Thai Visa members. I do not consider 'Sure. May we suggest you fill out a quote form' to be an answer that benefits anyone including maybe the OP him/herself.

[phetaroi]

...we are ... the poster of many of the answers from Thai Visa members. I do not consider 'Sure. May we suggest you fill out a quote form' to be an answer that benefits anyone including maybe the OP him/herself.

Which is why I was asking for transparency. It's fine that he's essentially a "salesman". That's an acceptable profession.

[harrry]

I generally try to buy products from sponsors as they often give people the chance to get an overview of products by posting some details in the forum. This company may or may not be the best company in Thailand .....from the postings I have no way of knowing so I have no incentive to move my insurances to them. A little more detail in their responses may change this.

[thaiericsweden]

Thaivisa insurance claim to have offices throughout Thailand, but I can see only 3 office locations noted on your page of the thaivisa website.

On your aainsure website, I can only see 4 office addresses.

Aren't you stretching it a bit when you say "offices throughout Thailand"?

As a broker, your most important asset is trust. Customers must trust you before they become your customer.......

[jazzbo]

I've been reading Stieg Larsson ... I would never trust anyone from Sweden.

[aussiebebe]

I agree with the OP, most insurance questions are answered by 'ThaiVisa Insurance' 'contact us for a quote....'. There's no problem with this, they are brokers who will offer customers a range of policies from different companies and assist when making a claim, but I think this forum should be organised differently.

1) The search function always turns up nothing, so the same topics get discussed perpetually.

2) this forum could be sub-divided into different types ie Home/Auto/Health/ etc.

3) the mods should delete or merge repeat posts.

I'm unsurprized that TVInsurance ends up answering, they must get sick of the same questions all the time. For example, someone's just asked about Unemployment Protection Insurance for the umpteeth time, when I distinctly remember it being answered last month. I'd post a link to the thread if I could be bothered to find it, but when I tried the serach function .......

[jfchandler]

Thai VISA Insurance is a sponsor here, so that gains them access and prominence in the forum and insurance thread...I gather...

But there oftentimes are good discussions and exchanges among members re general and specific insurance issues, including people's experiences with different insurance companies, and I often have found them informative and helpful.

It's just a good thing to remember that not every question is best answered with the result....get a quote from TV Insurance...

And I'm not sure what's the issue about search referenced above... When I've wanted to search on insurance topics, I've had no problem getting the appropriate results.

[bazmlb]

I agree with the OP, most insurance questions are answered by 'ThaiVisa Insurance' 'contact us for a quote....'. There's no problem with this, they are brokers who will offer customers a range of policies from different companies and assist when making a claim, but I think this forum should be organised differently.

1) The search function always turns up nothing, so the same topics get discussed perpetually.

2) this forum could be sub-divided into different types ie Home/Auto/Health/ etc.

3) the mods should delete or merge repeat posts.

I'm unsurprized that TVInsurance ends up answering, they must get sick of the same questions all the time. For example, someone's just asked about Unemployment Protection Insurance for the umpteeth time, when I distinctly remember it being answered last month. I'd post a link to the thread if I could be bothered to find it, but when I tried the serach function .......

To Avoid repeats, I am adding some of the questions that get repeatedly asked here in the Insurance FAQ Page, any suggestions please pm me and I will add them.

Insurance FAQ Page

[ThaiBrat]

I generally try to buy products from sponsors as they often give people the chance to get an overview of products by posting some details in the forum. This company may or may not be the best company in Thailand .....from the postings I have no way of knowing so I have no incentive to move my insurances to them. A little more detail in their responses may change this.

As an Insurance Company / Broker they should exercise a customer "feel good factor from the start" quick replies and requests for quotes etc, then perhaps customers would feel more confident about using such a company and giving them our business.

I called them on the 8^th July, received the following email (blue text below)

Note, they say they use SKYPE, I sent a request to them to add me to their contacts, in the comments / notes box I explained I wanted motor insurance within Thailand. Since the 8^th July I have never seen them online, and most days I am online 12 hours a day.

xxxx ✆ to me, info

show details 8 Jul

Dear Khun xxxxx

Thank you for calling, as your requested about xxxxxxxx insurance I need to recheck with insurance company first. As soon as I know more I'll inform you.

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Sincerely Yours, xxxx AA INSURANCE BROKERS CO., LTD.

565/62 Moo 10 (Next to Big C, South Pattaya)

Nongprue, Banglamung

Chonburi 20150

Phone: 038 415 795-6

Skype: aainsure

Fax: 038 374 251

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.aainsure.net

This time delay, if they ever decide to reply; does not exube confidence in a company that we may depend on in times of need does it?

TODATE NOTHING so my business has gone to a different Insurance Company.

[ThaivisaInsurance]

I generally try to buy products from sponsors as they often give people the chance to get an overview of products by posting some details in the forum. This company may or may not be the best company in Thailand .....from the postings I have no way of knowing so I have no incentive to move my insurances to them. A little more detail in their responses may change this.

As an Insurance Company / Broker they should exercise a customer "feel good factor from the start" quick replies and requests for quotes etc, then perhaps customers would feel more confident about using such a company and giving them our business.

I called them on the 8^th July, received the following email (blue text below)

Note, they say they use SKYPE, I sent a request to them to add me to their contacts, in the comments / notes box I explained I wanted motor insurance within Thailand. Since the 8^th July I have never seen them online, and most days I am online 12 hours a day.

xxxx ✆ to me, info

show details 8 Jul

Dear Khun xxxxx

Thank you for calling, as your requested about xxxxxxxx insurance I need to recheck with insurance company first. As soon as I know more I'll inform you.

Should you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Sincerely Yours, xxxx AA INSURANCE BROKERS CO., LTD.

565/62 Moo 10 (Next to Big C, South Pattaya)

Nongprue, Banglamung

Chonburi 20150

Phone: 038 415 795-6

Skype: aainsure

Fax: 038 374 251

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.aainsure.net

This time delay, if they ever decide to reply; does not exube confidence in a company that we may depend on in times of need does it?

TODATE NOTHING so my business has gone to a different Insurance Company.

ThaiBrat

We are obviously sorry you did not receive our reply but please PM us and we will look through the email records and explain the communications to you.

TV Insurance

[Flow]

AA Insurance Brokers are, I presume, paying ThaiVisa a nice sum to be in here as the primary sole sponsor of this forum. So, I guess it's the "we try and get as much business in while we can" is.. well just business.

[grumpyoldman]

I generally try to buy products from sponsors as they often give people the chance to get an overview of products by posting some details in the forum. This company may or may not be the best company in Thailand .....from the postings I have no way of knowing so I have no incentive to move my insurances to them. A little more detail in their responses may change this.

I can vouch for ThaiVisa Insurance.

In 2008, I thought it best to get some kind of coverage while I was shopping for insurance and did a short term deal with Peter from ThaiVisa Insurance. Very inexpensive, I think 8,000thb for six months or something like that anyway.

Ends up one evening I find myself riding my motorbike at about 30 clicks, come around a corner the road is covered in dirt, down I go, sliding on the pavement.

Off to the hospital, flip the ThaiVisa Insurance card, done. All taken care of. A certain amount of the post wound cleanings taken care of too.

Pretty sure they are a brokerage, so deal with many companies, but I can attest firsthand, reputable operation.

[PattayaParent]

...we are ... the poster of many of the answers from Thai Visa members. I do not consider 'Sure. May we suggest you fill out a quote form' to be an answer that benefits anyone including maybe the OP him/herself.

The costs of insurance depends on your personal circumstances and requirements so there is no 'one size fits all' answer to a question, hence the need to ascertain the personal circumstances and requirements by filling in details on the form.

And if a specific answer is provided to one person on an open forum it may be misunderstood by others that the same answer is applicable to them when it may well not be the case.

So just fill in the form and get a quotation, same as you would have to do if you walked into the offices of an insurance company directly, except that with a broker they have access to rates from a large number of insurance companies so do the legwork for you while you sit at home and have a beer.

[harrry]

...we are ... the poster of many of the answers from Thai Visa members. I do not consider 'Sure. May we suggest you fill out a quote form' to be an answer that benefits anyone including maybe the OP him/herself.

The costs of insurance depends on your personal circumstances and requirements so there is no 'one size fits all' answer to a question, hence the need to ascertain the personal circumstances and requirements by filling in details on the form.

And if a specific answer is provided to one person on an open forum it may be misunderstood by others that the same answer is applicable to them when it may well not be the case.

So just fill in the form and get a quotation, same as you would have to do if you walked into the offices of an insurance company directly, except that with a broker they have access to rates from a large number of insurance companies so do the legwork for you while you sit at home and have a beer.

And at the same time feel confident that at a later stage you will recieve a phone call from other expats bussinesses on a phone number never given to anyone else.

[jfchandler]

I think the sharing of insurance information and experiences here by TV members is/could be a very useful thing, apart from the variations that come with age and individual circumstances.

Unfortunately, this is one particular forum in TV where the content is long on referrals to a sponsoring insurance broker and short on actual discussion among members... It could be otherwise, but only if the members themselves make it happen that way.

[jazzbo]

And if a specific answer is provided to one person on an open forum it may be misunderstood ... There is only a finite number of classes of insurance for any type of coverage; and the major brokers and insurers (Such as ACE or Marsh) provide a wealth of information on their websites ...

Saying that to explain how different types of coverage function could be 'misundestood' is just a smoke screen courtesy of the 'Brokers's All-Purpose Talking Points Memo'.

[bazmlb]

And if a specific answer is provided to one person on an open forum it may be misunderstood ... There is only a finite number of classes of insurance for any type of coverage; and the major brokers and insurers (Such as ACE or Marsh) provide a wealth of information on their websites ...

Saying that to explain how different types of coverage function could be 'misundestood' is just a smoke screen courtesy of the 'Brokers's All-Purpose Talking Points Memo'.

An open public forum as compared to a Insurance company or Brokers website is very different, displayed here http://insurance.thaivisa.com is some general information about insurance.

If you do apply to any broker/Insurance company especially with Health insurance there can be pre-existing conditions that need to be taken into consideration for example, its not up to the insurance company sometimes to even approve a client or not, it can be the underwriter of the insurance company who rejects some benefits or even complete policies, these details can be personal of nature and why a lot of detail about ones persons requirements is difficult to discuss and we have a privacy policy regarding members information which is strictly adhered to, so i don't think 'misunderstood' is the right word, but a persons personal circumstances may not apply to another.

We are also improving the amount of information about insurance in Thailand on the site, such as when a topic regularly appears we try to cover it in the Insurance FAQ's here.

[jazzbo]

There is a big difference between a question about one's specific medical history and a general question that might help the larger audience understand how insuurance -- especially health insurance -- functions...

And regardless of an individual's evaluation by the underwriter -- other than specific riders or exclusions -- in the end everybody receives the same policy document.

[Evilbaz]

I have just taken out house and contents plus car insurance through TVinsurance via AA Insurance brokers.

AA's service was great - prompt and great rates (the car insurance was 25% lower through them - with the same company.)

I can't see what the problem is for some BMs that a company sponsors a sub-forum to provide information and get clients.?

Standard procedure for insurance is to get several quotes.

AA can be one of those quotes.

Then you make your choice and pay up.

Hopefully I wont get to test their after-sales service.