China Taiping i-Secure is an insurance plan that offers coverage against total permanent disability, death, and terminal illness. Beyond, it offers a minimum death benefit if an insured person is diagnosed with a terminal illness or dies.
Multiplier options are common in whole life insurance; however, i-Secure is more advanced. You can boost your sum insured by a multiplier of 2, 3, or 4 up to ages 71 or 86 and extend it indefinitely.
However, you’ll need to pay for the insurance cost attached to the cash value to extend. Currently, the 86 option is one of the highest on the market.
Because it’s a participating policy, it accumulates the cash value as bonuses.
Criteria
- Minimum sum assured starts at $50k
- Life Assured: 0 to 65 years
- Policyholder: 18 to indefinite
Basic Product Features
Coverage Duration
The China Taiping i-Secure II offers lifetime coverage with two multiplier options of up to 71 or 86 with an option of extending indefinitely.
Payment Terms and Options
China Taiping’s i-Secure is a limited premium policy with competitive premium and flexible options ranging from 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 years.
As well, your premium amount depends on several factors such as; age, sum assured, premium period, and gender.
Protection
Death Benefit
If death occurs while the policy is still running, the sum assured and accumulated bonuses will be paid out minus any amount owed by the insured. After that, the policy automatically ends after the payout.
Terminal Illness Benefit
In case you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, you’ll be paid a lump sum from the death benefit. However, this reduces the death benefit, whereas the balance is paid upon death.
For you to qualify for terminal illness benefit, you must be diagnosed with an illness that results in death in 12 months. It also excludes terminal illness due to the presence of HIV.
The maximum terminal illness benefit payable is equal to S$3,000,000.
Total and Permanent Disability Benefit
Upon diagnosis with a total and permanent disability, you’ll get a lump sum of the death benefit as an advance payment.
Notably, the payout reduces the basic sum assured and accumulated bonus in equal proportions. Given that, the premium of the remaining sum assured is adjusted accordingly.
On the same note, the policy ends if the TPD benefit is equivalent to the basic sum assured.
Here are the requirements for you to qualify for the TPD benefit payout
| Occurrence | Requirements |
| If you encounter the following at any age before the anniversary of the policy on which 18 is your next birthday. |
|
| If you encounter the following before turning 65 years old |
|
| If you encounter the following after turning 65 years old and before the age of 70. |
|
| If at any age you experience the following. |
|
Surrender Benefit
You may surrender your insurance policy in full or part after it acquires a surrender value.
Upon surrender, you’ll get a guaranteed surrender value, surrender value on the accumulated bonus, and a non-guaranteed terminal bonus.
Partial surrender is only acceptable if the policy maintains a minimum basic sum assured. Subsequently, the amount payable will be less any debt owed to the policy.
Worth noting, a life insurance policy is a long-term venture, and therefore early surrender may involve a lot of costs. Therefore, your total payout may be less than your sum of premiums or zero.
Basic Guaranteed Benefit Extender
The basic guaranteed benefit may be extended if it expires and the current basic sum assured plus accumulated bonus amount is lower than the basic guaranteed benefit.
This basically means that your multiplier option can be extended past 86 years old.
Add-On Riders
Critical Illness Riders
You can boost your Critical Illness cover by opting for the below critical illness riders.
AdvancedCare Rider II
China Taiping’s i-Secure II policy has the AdvancedCare Rider II which is an accelerator payment for critical illnesses.
It provides a whole coverage against 55 advanced-stage critical diseases.
Below is the list of 55 specified critical illnesses covered under AdvancedCare Rider II.
EarlyCare Rider II
The plan also includes a critical illness benefit which is a comprehensive package covering up to 161 early, intermediate, advanced, and special illnesses.
The early critical illness coverage includes a total of 161 CIs
- 42 Early-stage CIs
- 40 Intermediate CIs
- 55 Advanced-stage CIs
- 12 Special Conditions
- 12 Juvenile Conditions
You’ll enjoy the critical illness benefit after a diagnosis of any of the specified conditions.
You will receive 10% of the CI benefit up to a maximum of $25,000 per policy upon diagnosis of Angioplasty or invasive surgery for Coronary Artery. Notably, you can only claim this benefit once under the policy.
The maximum critical illness benefit payable is equivalent to $3,000,000 and this amount includes other policies and riders issued by China Taiping. However, if the amount payable is less than any amount you owe the policy, it can lead to automatic termination.
The payout for CI benefit significantly reduces the basic sum assured and bonuses in equal proportions. After payout, the premium payable for the balance of the basic sum assured is adjusted accordingly.
Other Riders
Besides the above, you can increase your protection by choosing the following riders.
| Rider | Benefit |
| Payer Rider | Waiver of future premiums on your plan or that of your child in case of death, total and permanent disability, and terminal illness. |
| Early Payer Rider | Waiver of future premiums on your plan or that of your child in case of death, total and permanent disability, and all stages of the terminal illness and critical illness. |
| Early Waiver Rider | The future premiums are waived upon diagnosis with a critical illness. |
| Enhanced Waiver Rider | Waiver of future premiums after a diagnosis of an advanced-stage critical illness |
| Enhanced Payer Rider | Waiver of future premiums for death, TI, TPD, and advanced-stage of CI if you purchased the plan for your spouse or child. |
| Spouse Rider | Waiver of future premiums for you if your spouse faces death, TI, TPD, if you purchased the plan for your child. |
| Early Spouse Rider | Waiver of future premiums for you if your spouse faces death, TI, TPD, any stage of CI, if you purchased the plan for your child. |
| Enhanced Spouse Rider | Waiver of future premiums for you if your spouse faces death, TI, TPD, advanced-stage CI, if you purchased the plan for your child. |
Bonus Features
Reversionary Bonuses
The policy may allocate a non-guaranteed annual reversionary bonus. However, the bonuses may vary depending on the prevailing conditions of the participating fund.
After declaration, the reversionary bonus is added to your policy at the anniversary and at this point becomes guaranteed.
The table below highlights the reversionary bonus
For illustration purposes, the reversionary bonus will offer $4.50 per $1000 sum assured and $7.00 per $1000 sum assured on accumulated reversionary bonuses.
Terminal Bonus
Terminal bonus is paid once upon surrender of the policy or claim.
On claim, it’s expressed as a percentage of the sum of accumulated reversionary bonus. To get a better idea, look at the table below which shows the percentage based on the accumulated reversionary bonus.
On surrender, it’s expressed in terms of the percentage of the surrender value on the sum of accumulated reversionary bonus as highlighted in the table below.
As you can see, there’s no guarantee of the investment rate of return as this depends on the earnings of the participating fund. Therefore, the bonus rates are not guaranteed and may vary.
Investment of Assets
In order to maximise long-term benefits for policyholders, China Taiping manages its funds with a balanced investment mix.
The participating fund has an investment objective of maximising return while ensuring there is an acceptable risk level.
China Taiping manages the participating fund alongside the external manager, Taiping Assets Management (HK) Company Limited. Notably, the office may have different external managers at any time.
Here is what the portfolio mix looked like in the year ending 31st December 2020.
The Rate of Return
The rate of return only applies to the participating fund’s performance but don’t reflect what you’ll get. The actual bonuses you receive from the policy are what determines the actual return you’ll earn. Here is a historical reflection of the investment returns have been.
Because the participating fund was launched in December 2018, the data is only available from 2019.
Further, do note that these figures are not an indicator of how the returns will be in the future.
Geometric Average
As China Taiping’s participating funds is newly set up, there is no geometric average available for reference.
However, you can still view how other insurers fair through the table below:
Total Expense Ratio
The participating funds may incur expenses such as distribution, investment, management, and taxation costs.
Further, there is an acceptable level of costs incurred by the participating fund, which is not an additional expense to you.
However, if the actual expenses vary by significant amounts, it can affect your non-guaranteed benefits.
Worth noting, the Participating fund was launched in 2018; therefore, the total expense ratio for the first three years is not a true reflection of the long-term TER. The fund is still in its setup stage, and there are significant costs associated with it.
My Take on China Taiping’s i-Secure II
Are you looking for an insurance policy that offers permanent death benefit coverage and savings components?
China Taiping i-Secure can provide you with this.
When you compare the annual premiums on whole life plans, China Taiping’s i-Secure II may not be the most affordable on the market. However, it has favourable coverage for critical illness conditions compared to other providers, as highlighted in the table below.
| NTUC Income Star Secure | Manulife LifeReady Plus II | Aviva MyWholeLife Plan (IV) | AIA Guaranteed Protect Plus (III) | Great Eastern Complete Flexi Living Protect 2 | China Taiping I-Secure(III) | AXA Life Treasure (II) | Prudential PRUActive Life II | |
| Early Critical Illness | 142 | 125 | 72 | 150 | 35 | 42 | 41 | 74 |
| Intermediate Critical Illness | 33 | 40 | 37 | |||||
| AdvancedCritical Illness | 59 | 52 | 55 | 56 | ||||
| Total CI Conditions | 142 | 125 | 131 | 150 | 120 | 137 | 134 | 74 |
| Additional Coverage | ||||||||
| Special Benefits (Diabetic Complications, Osteoporosis, etc) | 15 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 14 | – |
| Juvenile Benefits (Kawasaki Disease, Severe Hemophilia, etc) | 15 | 12 | 11 | – | 16 | 12 | 14 | – |
| Total additional coverage | 30 | 22 | 27 | 15 | 10+16+5(Senior Conditions)= 31 | 24 | 28 | 0 |
| Total Conditions Covered | 172 | 147 | 158 | 165 | 151 | 161 | 162 | 74 |
As you can see, China Taiping i-Secure covers up to 161 total conditions, which is among the highest, and therefore it’s not surprising that the premiums are a bit higher.
If you’re looking for a whole life insurance plan that doesn’t compromise on quality as well as being competitively priced, this is the right one for you.
The multiplier is by far the most attractive feature of this policy as it can extend to 86 years old with an option of converting to a lifetime.
On the flip side, China Taiping policy has some shortcomings as well. These include;
- The minimum sum assured of $50,000.
- The cash value cannot be converted into monthly or annual payouts to supplement your retirement income.
- Premiums are on the higher side if you’re not looking for the multiplier for your lifetime.
For whole life policies, it is recommended to consider the coverage, par fund performance, and expense ratios, instead of just the policy premiums,
This is especially true when you’re purchasing for ECI/CI coverage. Check the definitions and whether what’s covered is in line with your past medical history and your family’s.
Need some assistance in selecting the best life policy suited for your needs? Check out our list of best whole life insurance plans in Singapore so you can make a decision.
If you’re still unsure, our licensed partners can provide you with some guidance too!
