54% Malaysian Insured

Only 54 per cent of Malaysians were insured as of last year, prompting Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to set a vision of raising the coverage to 75 per cent by 2020. The industry would require more assistance from the government if they wanted to achieve the target.

In the last 10 years, the number of those insured grew by a little over one per cent each year. With such a situation, industry players would have to go the extra mile in order to achieve the target of having 75 per cent of Malaysians insured.

Malaysians are walking around in big risks as only 54 per cent of the country’s population is insured. In Taiwan, the percentage is about 260 per cent, meaning each person has at least two policies. Taiwan with a population of 25 million registered about 300,000 agents while Malaysia had only 85,000 agents to cater for a population of 30 million. 

As a means to boost the industry, the government should detach insurance premium contribution from Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contribution for tax relief. At present, taxpayers are entitled to a joint relief worth RM6,000 for premium and EPF contributions.

Furthermore, the government should emulate Singapore to exempt medical insurance from the six per cent goods and services tax (GST). Presently, only life insurance is GST-free in Malaysia whereas in Singapore, both life and medical insurance policies are not subject to GST.