Singtel and Great Eastern partner to offer insurance with telco-centric benefits
Singtel and Great Eastern Holdings announced their partnership to launch a range of general insurance products spanning home, motor and travel, jointly developed by both companies. These insurance offerings, underwritten by Great Eastern, seek to address customer needs arising from their increasingly digital lifestyles, featuring telco-centric benefits that are industry firsts. This collaboration expands Singtel’s foray into insurance, tapping its wide customer base to reach more than 60% of all households in Singapore, and valuable customer insights that help tailor insurance products to customers’ lifestyle needs.
To start, Singtel and Great Eastern will be introducing Singtel Home Protect, a home insurance first that provides coverage for both telco bills and home contents. The plan reimburses Singtel broadband expenses besides covering renovation, furniture, appliances, valuables and personal effects, which most home owners do not insure today. Insurance that bundles both home contents and broadband is synergistic, as home owners typically sign up for or re-contract their broadband services when they shift or renovate their homes.
“With the shift to work from home since the onset of COVID-19, many people have made home improvements to create a more conducive environment. This makes protecting their homes with Singtel Home Protect more important than ever. On top of better coverage for home belongings, we want to give our customers additional peace of mind by providing extra protection for their telco bills. We’ve worked closely with Great Eastern to enhance traditional insurance with the kind of telco benefits that speak to our reliance on technology and this will also be extended to motor and travel insurance.” – Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Consumer Singapore at Singtel.
In the coming weeks, Singtel and Great Eastern will also be offering car owners motor insurance. For travellers keen to tour the world once more travel restrictions lift, Singtel will be introducing travel insurance with mobile-related benefits. This is another first in Singapore as it includes unique benefits such as reimbursement of Singtel mobile bill during hospitalisation due to an accident, and of additional Singtel mobile data expenses incurred due to delays in travel, as well as repair or replacement of mobile phone in case of loss.
“The partnership with a trusted telco like Singtel is yet another milestone in our digital affinity strategy and expansion into new customer segments as a leading regional insurer. To provide value-added protection to augment Singtel’s existing customer offer, we leveraged data insights to develop affordable, relevant general insurance solutions with unique benefits to help protect their everyday needs. Through continuous engagement and a seamless consumer purchase journey, we are making customised protection solutions easily accessible to Singtel customers to lifeproof their assets through home, and later motor and travel insurance.” – Mr Ryan Cheong, Managing Director of Digital for Business, Great Eastern.
Singtel Home Protect is offered to Singtel broadband customers at launch and will be made available to all Singtel customers later. For as low as S$6.50 a month, they can sign up for the plan on the Singtel website or through My Singtel app. The plan covers reimbursement of Singtel bills of S$280 per month for up to three months, and up to S$80,000 for home contents and renovation in the event of disruption to services due to a fire or other types of damage to the home. Available for S$84 for 12 months of coverage, or S$156 for 24 months of coverage, customers can enjoy 10% off Home Protect from now until 18 September 2020. For more details, visit singtel.com/homeprotect.
The launch of these general insurance products adds to Singtel’s expanding range of insurance offerings for its customers. Singtel first made its foray into the local insurance market last July, when it launched free personal insurance cover for its prepaid customers as part of mobile data plans. Earlier in the year, Singtel extended free 30-day COVID-19 insurance coverage to prepaid and Dash customers. Singtel also introduced an insurance savings plan for Dash customers who wish to start saving regularly for the future.