The Singapore Resilience Study, which was conducted recently, has found that Singaporeans are regarded as resilient in terms of mental, physical, social and financial well-being.
Unsurprisingly, married individuals are more likely to have greater social and financial resilience than single people because they benefit from dual-income households, and respondents that live in private housing had a higher social, physical and financial resilience than those in smaller HDB flats. Unemployed and less educated people are among the least resilient.
One of the factors that contributes to resilience, according to the study, is insurance ownership, and among the recommendations on how Singaporean’s can further improve their resilience, it suggests that insurance offerings should be made accessible to all age groups.
While it might seem obvious that insurance benefits anyone who wants to protect their family, their assets or their property from risk or loss, it is less often equated with the well-being of individuals. The fact is, however, that insurance policies cushion the blow of an unexpected cost, or loss, which would otherwise make the individual, or their household, vulnerable.
The comfort of knowing that a family heirloom, a much treasured item of jewellery or an expensive camera are insured, delivers an element of confidence, removing the worry of loss, theft or damage.
Accessing insurance, however, is not always straightforward, and the process can be off-putting for some members of society. Affordability is one issue. Another is whether it’s necessary to insure every item in a house or flat. People also find it hard to find the time to organise insurance for themselves.
We have addressed these, and many more, challenges by making insurance easy. Our downloadable app will enable a single item, or a group of items, to be insured, for as long or as little as the customer wants, and will not only deliver cover in moments, but puts management of that insurance into the control of our customers. If they want to switch it off, or re-instate it at any time, they simply click on the app.
We understand that customers feel reassured if the services they use are recognised by well-known Singaporean partners, which is why we have forged agreements with retailers like WatchBox Singapore and become an active member of the Singapore Business Foundation. It is why our app is underwritten by the top insurer in the south-east Asian market, QBE Singapore. Just as important is that the app has integrated Singpass capabilities. Once a customer’s personal details have been securely ported from Singpass during sign-up, they do not need to be re-entered, which reinforces data accuracy and enhances convenience.
We didn’t set out specifically to improve the resilience of Singaporeans, however, it is reassuring to know that by making our insurance offer easily accessible to everyone, it may go some way to achieving that valuable status.