Accident Insurance

[nivram4491]

I am 68 years old and in excellent health, I have decided that health insurance at my age is too expensive. However, since I ride my Honda Wave everyday I am considering buying personal accident insurance.

I was given the following details for a personal plan.

1. Loss of life, eyes, limbs, or permanent paralysis due to accident 500,000 Baht

2. Loss of life, eyes, limbs, or permanent paralysis due to murder or

intentional harm to body 250,000 Baht

3. Loss of life due to accident while riding a motorcycle 500,000 Baht

4. Medical expense up to 60,000 Baht \(per accident)

5. Treatment of broken bones up to 30,000 Bath (per accident)

[6.] Accident during official holiday 500,000 Baht (additional to 1)

[7.] Accident while commuting in personal vehicle 500,000 Baht (additional to 1)

Premium 2,500 Baht per year on an age related scale

for 65 - 70 years the premium goes up by 40% (1.000 Baht) to a total 3,500 Baht per year

Is this plan poor, average or good value?

[naboo]

I'd say the 60,000B for an accident is adequate (in most circumstances) for all hospitals in Chiang Mai.

However, except in case of death or paralysis, this is paying out $1500, a sum I hope you'd be able to scrape together.

I'd be inclined to ask for a quote on something with a 25,000B excess that would pay out up to 1 million Baht per accident and would pay to repatriate you in case of paralysis. I'd imagine the premium would be similar.

[NancyL]

Be sure it really does cover you if you're riding a motorcycle. If it's the PA insurance policy from Bangkok Bank, then it doesn't. Sure, the English language summary they distribute at their offices and on their website kind of "implies" they cover motorcycle riding, due to the confusing way they present the information.

Also, many accident policies won't cover you on a motorcyle unless you specifically have a valid, local motorcycle license.

We bought our policies nearly a year ago from Bangkok Bank and the local branch manager still can't give us an "official" English language translation of the policy. We were given one they claimed was the translation, but (since I can read Thai at about the sixth grade level), it was clear it wasn't the same policy when I spent some time studying both versions. Their face-saving response was that they gave me an official translation of an older version of the policy and they didn't have a translatation of the newer version available.

So, I tried to study the official Thai policy to learn what we'd bought. I don't read Thai well, but I saw something about exclusions due to osteoporosis. OK, I'm an older lady and I've been diagnosed with that condition and take medicine for it. So, does that mean if I have any bone fracture, even due to an accident, they won't cover it or just that they won't cover fractures that are specifically caused by osteoporosis? I still can't get an answer to that.

Don't pay money for any insurance policy unless the company is willing to provide you with an English-language version of the policy that they're willing to stand behind. We won't be renewing our Bangkok Bank policy if they can't come up with an official translation a year after selling it to us.

Normally, I'm a big fan of Bangkok Bank, but they've really fallen down on this product (hope they didn't break any bones!)

[orang37]

Where I think this policy leaves a "fuzzy void" is in relation to an accident where you have multiple fractures of one leg, as I once had, courtesy of a drunk or stoned Thai hit-and-run motosai driver who .. while I was on a bicycle (well-lit-up) crossed over to the wrong side of the road to broadside my right femur, causing multiple "spiral fractures," up the femur.

Total treatment for major surgery, casts, etc.: around 150k baht. Under this policy, what would you get for such a case ? 30k baht for a broken bone ?

If you find other policies, I hope you will keep posting here on this topic.

thanks, ~o:37;

[elektrified]

That policy has rather low coverage. The cost of medical care is not what it was at one time. The 60,000 Baht coverage won't get you much. When my son was an infant he racked up a 150,000 Baht tab over a weeks time at Sripat and Suan Dok and that was basically lab, pharmacy, therapy, and room charges - no surgical procedures or anything. I would imagine the cost of getting fixed up by a couple of surgeons after a bad motorcycle accident would be significant.

[NancyL]

For the cost, this policy would seem to be a "good buy" if it actually delivers as the OP summarized (see my previous post).

I know of some foreigners who have been hospitalized due to accidents involving broken bones and the bills are always over 100,000 baht (closer to 200,000 baht) at the private hospitals like Rajavej, Ram, Sripat. Costs are much lower at Suan Dok, but often you have to wait months for an operation we'd consider urgent. Walk 50 feet to Sripat and they'll schedule you for tomorrow, in the same operating rooms with the same doctors for twice the price.

This policy would do a good job of making the down payment needed for the private hospitals to treat you after an accident. Most want a deposit of 60,000 baht before they'll even start you on IV painkillers. Otherwise, you're carted off to Suan Dok once stabilized.

If you can't afford appropriate health insurance or don't have an emergency fund of a couple hundred thousand baht, wouldn't it be a good idea to live within walking distance of everything and not ride a motorcycle?

Edited April 20, 2012 by NancyL

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Why not vehicle insurance that covers hospitalization too? Then you're also covered when you mess up other people's vehicles.

[DiamondKing]

Too low 60,000 is not enough cover an accident unless its scrapes and road rash

My bill was 380,000 baht although my leg was broken in 5 places and I was hospitalized for 3 weeks while I was in my friend had an accident also and his Bill was over 1 Million baht he had a head injury

I would want at least min 500,000 just in case

DK

Edited April 20, 2012 by DiamondKing

[canopus1969]

Kevin over at AA Insurance Brokers will do an accident policy for oldies at about 3,200 Baht - and that includes 100,000 Baht for accidents - even on bikes !

[elektrified]

Too low 60,000 is not enough cover an accident unless its scrapes and road rash

My bill was 380,000 baht although my leg was broken in 5 places and I was hospitalized for 3 weeks while I was in my friend had an accident also and his Bill was over 1 Million baht he had a head injury

I would want at least min 500,000 just in case

DK

That is more realistic of what medical care really costs.

A friend recently had a 'mild' heart attack in Bangkok and was hospitalized 3 days. Cost: 159,000 THB for 1 1/2 days in CCU, tests, labs, etc.

[lexilis]

Great thread! Thanks to all for the info and please keep it coming. I am in similar situation as the OP (though I am a few years younger at 57). I have just moved back to CM and do not have insurance provided through an employer like before. I am in good health and always have been but I also ride a motorcycle and I want to find at least a good accident policy if not a total health package. 3000-4000 Bt per year seems pretty cheap to me but if a decent accident policy can be had for that then good. Thanks for the info about the English translation and the possible requirement to have a LOCAL motorcycle driving license (I don't, mine is from the US). Any other tips or recommendations are appreciated. To the OP, if you do more research on this please post what you learn!

[nivram4491]

From the original poster.

Thanks for all the info. I hope some others have found the info as useful as I have. Because it is so difficult to get a clear explanation of the terms of the insurance the tendency is to let it slide and just say mai pen rai.

The terms given in my original submission are not my interpretation of the terms of the insurance. I asked the agent to send me an email with the terms so I think they would find it difficult wriggling out of covering motor cycle accidents. This is a promotion that only lasts for the month of April so the agent emphasizes comparing the promotion plan to the normal plan. From this point of view the plan is very good but I am beginning to believe that from an overall point of view, when compared to other plans, it is not particularly good value.

I will try to follow up the AA Insurance lead. If indeed I can get 100,000 Baht cover for any accident including motorcycles then that seems much better value. If I manage to follow it up I will report back the result. I also want to see what the rate is for greater coverage like 200,000 Baht medical.

[Semper]

Why not vehicle insurance that covers hospitalization too? Then you're also covered when you mess up other people's vehicles.

15 000Bht. He is on a Honda wave.

[nattydread]

go to the Harley Davidson shop on Wualai Rd that deal in m/c policies using a company called ThaiSRI insurance which also has a main office on Nimmamen Rd

i bought a policy there and all the literature comes in English language.the shop is run by an American named Richo

[NancyL]

Unfortunately, when the rubber meets the road (or more accurately when you met the road) the only thing that matters are the words in the actual, real, official policy, It doesn't matter if the policy is only available in Thai and you can't read Thai -- that's your problem not theirs.

We had a case here where the local agent sent us an email with certain promises and when it came time to collect on those promises years later, then we discovered the agent was "mistaken". In all fairness, the agent did everything possible to plead our case with the actual insurance company and we received more than we would have otherwise without his help.

Just remember, there's a reason they call them "agents". They're not employees of the insurance company.

[searcher22]

I believe there's a law in Thailand stating that if there is a discrepancy between the original Thai version of a document and the English version, the original Thai version will prevail.

[tango]

Some insurance companies, like Blu Cross, pay only half the policy rate if you suffer injury whilst riding a motorcycle be it driver or passenger.

You might want to read the fine print, and ask up front before purchasing.

[orang37]

I believe there's a law in Thailand stating that if there is a discrepancy between the original Thai version of a document and the English version, the original Thai version will prevail.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Searcher22,

It would be great if more information could be provided on this.

thanks, ~o:37;

[searcher22]

I believe there's a law in Thailand stating that if there is a discrepancy between the original Thai version of a document and the English version, the original Thai version will prevail.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Searcher22,

It would be great if more information could be provided on this.

thanks, ~o:37;

Khun Orang37, I've heard this through the grapevine, so I don't have any "hard evidence," but the clause is fairly common in legal documents worldwide that are translated into different languages. I don't expect things to be any different in Thailand, especially when English documents come with spelling and grammar mistakes and ambiguous wording.

[naboo]

I'm pretty sure that Ford's documents state that if there are differences between the Thai and English versions, the English language version is correct. Though whether the opposite is stated in the Thai version, I don't know.