Table of Contents
- Featured Partners
- Singapore Travel Insurance
- What Does Travel Insurance for Singapore Cover?
- Can I Tailor My Travel Insurance For Singapore?
- What Does Travel Insurance for Singapore Exclude?
- How Much Does Travel Insurance for Singapore Cost?
- How Can I Compare Travel Insurance for Singapore?
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Singapore has long been a holiday favourite for Australians, either as a stop-over city on the way to Europe or the Middle East or as base for exploring Asia. According to the latest figures from data portal, Statista, 566,000 Australians visited the country in 2022.
If you’re also planning to visit, travel insurance for Singapore can safeguard your trip against a number of potential mishaps, such as falling ill while away, losing your luggage and belongings or even needing to cancel the trip before it’s even begun. Singapore is a safe country, but the cost of medical care is high. Find out more about how travel insurance for Singapore works below.
Featured Partners
1
Fast Cover Travel Insurance
Cancellations
Unlimited, (Trip Disruption $50,000)
Rental Vehicle Excess
$5,000
Key Features
25-Day Cooling Off Period, Australian Based Call Centre, 4.6 Star Product Review Rating
2
Cover-More Travel Insurance
Medical cover
Unlimited, with a $2000 limit to dental
Cancellations
Yes, amount chosen by customer
3
Southern Cross Travel Insurance (Comprehensive)
Age Limit
Unlimited
Option of Cruise Cover
Yes
Unlimited medical
Yes (some sub limits apply)
Singapore Travel Insurance
There are three main types of travel insurance policy for Singapore. These are:
- Single trip: for a one-off trip in the space of 12 months to Singapore
- Annual multi-trip: for more than one trip in the space of 12 months to Singapore or various destinations. This type of cover can work out more cost-effective than buying multiple single trip policies but not always so it’s best to compare both types of cover.
- Long-stay/backpacker: for an extended stay in Singapore, of typically 60 or 90 days, or 12 or 18 months. Cover for 24 months may be available, from certain providers.
When applying for travel insurance online, you’ll first be asked to enter your holiday destination. Depending on the insurer, you’ll need to click on Singapore, Asia or Worldwide travel excluding the US and nearby destinations such as Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada and Greenland. The latter option excludes a part of the world where medical costs are the highest, which in turn, bumps up the cost of cover. If you’re also planning to travel to the US, for example, there are separate worldwide policies that include it as a destination.
What Does Travel Insurance for Singapore Cover?
Insurers usually offer at least two or more types of travel insurance policy from basic or comprehensive cover and anything in between. Comprehensive policies offer the highest cover levels and widest range of benefits.
A key component of all travel insurance policies is emergency medical cover. You’ll find a comprehensive policy for Singapore will often offer an unlimited amount.
The standard of medical facilities and care in Singapore is similar to, or higher than in Australia, and the cost often much higher, so medical cover can prove a vital resource should you fall ill, or get injured, while away.
Note that in the case of an emergency, you’ll likely need to pay up-front first, and then reclaim the costs from your insurer, or confirm payment from your insurer with a hospital before it will provide treatment.
As standard, travel insurance for Singapore can also cover repatriation and emergency rescue, in severe medical cases, the loss or theft of your baggage and belongings and trip cancellation if you can no longer travel for reasons such as falling ill, suffering a bereavement or losing your job.
They will also likely include an array of other forms of protection, providing the most at comprehensive level. This includes cover for lost or stolen money, passports and documentation, missed departures, online fraud, and travel delay. The types of cover on offer, and cover limits, will vary between providers. You can find exactly what a policy includes in its product disclosure statement (PDS), which is usually found on an insurer’s website.
Can I Tailor My Travel Insurance For Singapore?
There are a number of ways you can ensure your policy fits your needs. Many insurers offer optional add-ons that you can purchase if you need specialised cover. These include insurance for gadgets (such as a smartphone or laptop), a cruise and playing golf.
If you’re thinking of participating in more high-octane activities, check your policy’s PDS. Many cover around 100 or so sports automatically. Cover for what an insurer classes as high-risk activities, such as skydiving, bungee jumping, outdoor rock climbing, and activities requiring a set of wheels, such as quad biking, may require purchasing an additional ‘sports pack’ for your policy.
What Does Travel Insurance for Singapore Exclude?
While reading through a policy’s PDS, it’s crucial to also take note of any limitations of cover. These can differ between policies, but generally you can expect most insures to refuse claims relating to a pre-existing condition. This is a medical condition you had before taking out the policy. The insurer may not cover such conditions, or may refuse your claim if you did not declare your condition on applying for the policy.
An insurer is also unlikely to accept claims for an injury caused by taking part in a sport or activity where you did not wear the appropriate safety gear, such as a helmet, knee pads or a harness. Claims resulting from disorderly behaviour or being under the influence of drink or drugs will also likely be rejected.
It’s best to regularly check government advice for your destination, which it publishes on its Smartraveller website. This includes warnings about natural disasters, terrorism threats and pandemics. Visiting Singapore, or a part of the country, if the government puts it on its “do not travel” list, could invalidate your policy.
How Much Does Travel Insurance for Singapore Cost?
The amount you’ll need to pay for your travel insurance policy will depend on a range of factors. An insurer will consider your holiday destination, associated costs when travelling there and the length of time you’ll be travelling.
The price of a policy can rise for mature travellers and those with pre-existing conditions, as insurers view these travellers as more likely to claim on their policy.
The standard of medical facilities and care in Singapore is similar to, or higher than in Australia, and the cost often much higher, so medical cover can prove a vital resource should you fall ill, or get injured, while away.
To provide an idea of how much travel insurance for Singapore can cost, we ran quotes on the sites of the insurers we’ve rated the top five for travel insurance.
We used the profile of a family of four, aged 42, 40, 14 and 12, spending 13 to 26 May in the country, and assumed they have no pre-existing conditions, (although these providers do offer cover for pre-existing conditions should you need it).
We found basic cover ranged from around $106 to $202, while comprehensive cover started at around $241, with the most expensive policy costing just under $304.
How Can I Compare Travel Insurance for Singapore?
Before choosing a policy, it’s important to shop around. An easy way to do this is to run quotes on the websites of various insurers and compare factors such as the type of cover a policy includes and cover levels against price.
To help you with your search, we’ve conducted some research and found our pick of the best comprehensive travel insurance policies.
Featured Partners
1
Fast Cover Travel Insurance
Cancellations
Unlimited, (Trip Disruption $50,000)
Rental Vehicle Excess
$5,000
Key Features
25-Day Cooling Off Period, Australian Based Call Centre, 4.6 Star Product Review Rating
2
Cover-More Travel Insurance
Medical cover
Unlimited, with a $2000 limit to dental
Cancellations
Yes, amount chosen by customer
3
Southern Cross Travel Insurance (Comprehensive)
Age Limit
Unlimited
Option of Cruise Cover
Yes
Unlimited medical
Yes (some sub limits apply)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is travel insurance for Singapore worth it?
While travel insurance for Singapore isn’t mandatory, it can be considered a travel essential if you have no other means of covering emergency costs while away.
Emergency medical fees can easily stack up to thousands of dollars alone, and without travel insurance in place, you would have to cover them out of pocket. Travel insurance also can cover a number of eventualities that we often fail to consider, such as an airline, transport company, or accommodation provider going bust.
What is ‘excess’ in insurance?
An excess is a set amount you’ll be expected to pay on each approved claim. It’s usually levied per person on the policy, per event, per claim, but you can check the PDS for the specifics concerning your insurer. You usually can pick from a range of excess amounts, from $50 to $250 on average, when taking out a policy.
The more you choose to pay in excess, the lower your policy premium—the cost of your policy—typically will be, while paying less in excess will raise the cost. An excess is usually deducted from a claim amount, so you won’t need to pay for it out of pocket. However, it’s still crucial that you make sure it’s affordable.
Can I buy a policy while I’m in Singapore?
Some providers won’t cover a holiday if it’s already started. Others may cover you, but apply a waiting period of around 72 hours before you can claim.
The best time to take out travel insurance is as soon as you’ve booked your holiday, as you’ll be immediately covered for trip cancellation. Insurers are highly unlikely to consider claims resulting from something that happened before you took out the policy.
