Epicurious

Is it possible to get medical insurance if you aren't here on a visa of any kind and are just doing the 90 day thing?

JC3

Hi Epicurious,

I doubt you'll be able to buy 'Malaysia Only' medical insurance here in Malaysia if you don't officially live here.

For what you describe I would guess that it would be possible to get, for example, Worldwide (excluding North America) Medical Insurance, but much easier if you were applying from your home country before you left.

An alternative might be Travel Insurance. Most insurers insist you buy travel insurance before you leave the UK, but a few don't. See:
'I forgot to buy travel insurance before I left home. Is it too late?' | This is Money
Travel insurance might give you a solution for six months say, but any longer is likely to get tricky.

JC3

man from emas

you've not stated your age, basically getting insurance here in Malaysia over 60 years of age is not simple, I've separate insurance but my wife has insurance for Malaysia only, then overseas trips are covered by travel insurance, however these travel insurances tend to stipulate travel times away etc, you've not really given too mention information, when in Malaysia there are several majors insurance companies we deal with Kurnia (now taken over) & Tokio Marine, there are others.

Epicurious

I'm mid 50's.
I spoke to an Allianz agent and she seemed to think that as I'm classified as a visitor, then they won't cover me. I just wonder if that's a universal rule.
I have travel insurance which I purchased back in the UK, but I can't keep extending that forever.
I don't qualify for MM2H by the way.

man from emas

A friend of mine living here in Penang without MM2H has been using UK based travel insurance for years, so if you are popping in & out from UK few times a year it eems its possible to use that route, however medical / hospital costs are much reduced than private UK, so you could just pay as required ?

Epicurious

I won't be going back to the UK more than once a year, and I won't have a permanent address there (either owned or rented) so I doubt that any UK insurance company would see me as being a UK resident.

I have thought about so-called self-insurance, and I'm happy to pay for day-to-day medical expenses myself. I'm generally in very good health with no long term problems. My biggest fear is that a major accident where I end up in hospital for weeks could render me bankrupt.

JC3

Hi Epicurious,

Another idea would be to call Brokerfish, a specialist online broker for International Medical Health Insurance operating from KL and ask for their advice. It's free.

See: www.brokerfish.com/contact-us

I think you need to stick as closely as possible to the truth, because in the event of a claim you don't want it rejected because the information you supplied when applying for cover can be shown by the insurer to be incorrect. Insurers can be very good at not paying out, and can look very carefully at large claims.

I also wonder if there's another way.

• If you're sick - self insure
• If you're very sick, return permanently to the UK and the NHS
• For accidents buy Personal Accident Cover only (maybe worldwide excluding North America)

It's not a perfect solution (e.g. if you're suddenly very sick you may not be able to get on a plane back to the UK) but needs must perhaps.

JC3

bakedbean

This sounds about right to me.

Epicurious

Thanks, those are very good suggestions, JC3. I'll certainly contact brokerfish.

I wasn't aware that one can buy personal accident cover in isolation, so I'll look into that too.

roystevenung

For visa runners, during application the most important is to have a valid visa (well technically you should have a valid visa to be in the country).

Allianz/Prudential/Great Eastern/Hong Leong/AIA (to name a few) are life insurance company and are for long term stay (> 10 years if possible).

For visa runners, you may look at yearly renewable plans from Pacific Insurance Medipack

However do note that the coverage for a Malaysian Class policy for foreigners are only limited to Malaysian Hospital.

www.pacificinsurance.com.my

Epicurious

It looks like Brokerfish are out of business. Their phone number is dead and they don't respond to email enquiries. I've tried a number of times over the last couple of weeks to get through. Does anyone know of a similar company based in Malaysia?

Pacific looks reasonably priced and I think they will cover me, but only for incidents occurring within Malaysia, as Roy said. That would leave me needing travel insurance for foreign trips, and I guess no one local will cover me because I'm not a bona fide resident.

Epicurious

I finally signed up for Reside Worldwide, a policy covering me in all countries of the world except USA and Canada, marketed by sevencorners.com and underwritten by Lloyds of London. Much cheaper than the likes of IMG and Allianz.