[redbean]

Car insurance premiums up and up

The motorists are so pissed off with the high insurance premiums for cars that two letters appeared in the ST forum today. There could be more letters written in and many more who are angry but did not write in.

The gist of their anger is that the high operating cost in the insurance industry is contributed by bad management and probably misleading claims and the whole process of repairing and claims. And all these were simply passed to the innocent motorists. Worst, many motorists have never made a claim in their lives and are made to pay more and more. Huh, pay more and more.

Motor insurance is a compulsory requirement by law. Should the authority be concerned and be interested to see that there is fair play in this business? Or someone is sleeping or paid not enough so does not think it is his job to get his feet wet or hands dirty?

The other question is whether the accident rate is really that high given the high number of vehicles on the road. Without proper monitoring and regulations in this industry, the insurers could turn themselves into highwaymen and the motorists becoming victims of another scheme of daylight robbery.

Wake up man.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Case is geared up to fight insurance fraud

Two letters in the ST forum did the job. The motorists are angry and demand that something needs be done to curb the abuses in the motor insurance industry. And Case is making strong statements to muster govt efforts to stop the fraud.

Case President Yeo Guat Kwang said, 'It is not fair for the consumers to suffer, at the end of the day, because of all this malpractice in the industry.' It was also reported that GIA has all along suspected 'that some workshops, legal professionals and medical practititioners are working hand in glove in making these claims.' While professionals are involved too!

And all these have been going on for so long and no one does anything to it or nothing can be done to stop it? Hey, this is highly efficient Singapore!

So what are we going to do about it? The insurance companies have done the Singapore thing, throw more money into it by raising insurance premiums to solve the problem. Would more money be thrown into it to help the motorists? Or maybe we shall second a few supertalents to solve this difficult problem.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The motorists are angry, very angry.

The high insurance cost now, and the coming future, is making many motorists angry. And the fact that this is a mandatory requirement really is a pissed off. It is like legalising daylight robbery.

It is not the point to tell the industry to reduce the insurance premiums. The govt must step in to stop the malpractice as the legal requirement for car insurance is from the govt. How can this thing be left to the insurance industry completely to decide how much they want to charge when it is obvious that frauds, abuses and malpractice are the cause.

And don't forget that pay is also a major concern. How much is the cost going to the pay of the industry players? Big pay means big cost, don't ever forget that. Someone must pay for it. 8 month bonuses or 12 month bonuses or more?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[Grunt]

Don't forget the higher the premium the higher the cost of GST !

[redbean]

CPF savings not enough for retirement

I fully agree with Aaron Low, ST's political correspondent, on his view that CPF savings will not be enough for retirement. At the rate inflation is eating up the value of the savings, many will be hard push for money to pay for their basic expenses.

The question is why CPF savings, about 40% of a person's life time income is not enough. Oh, they have been buying affordable housing and paying for affordable hospitable bills. Ok, these are affordable expenses and reasaonable to spend them.

So how to make sure that after spending on these affordable items at affordable prices the retirees will still have enough money to live on? One way as suggested by Aaron, is to give up the idea of leaving something behind for the children. Have an inflation pegged annuity plan that will ensure that every cent is used up. Nothing to be left behind.

I have another brilliant idea. Raise CPF contribution to 60%. This should work for a while if inflation is still at 6-8%. But if the price of housing and medical bills keep going up according to market prices, or if inflation is higher, this may still be short. If that is the case, we can raise it to 80%. It is prudent to save for the future. Tighten the belt if need be.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

The AIG fallout

The stubborn persistence to be paid huge bonuses even when the company was going bust and needing US$185 billion in public money to keep it afloat is the height of plain stupidity and abusive arrogance. The House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel called it 'Near criminal indulgence.'

The Americans were outraged. But will the expectation of high and exorbitant pay and bonuses continues to be the way of life or will they see the end of an era of robbers and thieves? Paul Heng, the MD of NeXT Career Counsulting here thought that it could be the beginning of the end of big, fat, obscene bonuses.

Singapore is not free from such near criminal indulgence. We have been blindly and greedily following the Wall Street thieves in their daylight robbery and extortion of public money or shareholders money. And the best part is that we are proclaiming that our pay is still too low, not enough, they needed to be pay more.

How much more? How much is enough? When an employee can throw away $50k for a cooking course, you cannot be so blind not to know that he is obviously being paid too much that he can't wait to burn it away.

As a public policy, it is of great importance to pay the employees well, especially the talented, for them to live well and contribute well to society and country. But when paying well becomes excessively well, something must be gravely wrong.

Then there are other consequences in the formula. High pay, high consumption, high cost of living, high cost of everything that needs higher pay is like a dog chasing its own tail. The workers are working just to keep paying for their food and essentials. At the lower end, the high cost of living is just that. No money left for anything, not even for retirement. And forget about an expensive cooking class.

The govt has a very important responsibility to grapple with high cost and high pay controversy. What it should least do is to add to it and make this vicious cycle turn even wilder. The workers can never earn enough when other agencies are all waiting, counting how much they have in their pockets and CPF, and price their products and services to make sure that every cent is taken away from them.

This is called affordability pricing or market pricing. A way to make sure that what you earn is just enough for them to take away.

Many still cannot see the woods from the forest and think all these high property prices and high pay is a good thing. So the high HDB price, the high medical fees, education, etc are all affordable and good. The high rentals that the landlords are charging the shops and businesses are paid by the consumers, every cent of it.

What is important is to curb the growing cost that often is unncessary and self inflicted. When cost is lower, the people can live more comfortably with lesser pay. The value of money is not eroded away that fast. Otherwise the money in the CPF, even a few hundred thousands, may worth nothing when it is time to take them out. And if the cost of 2 or 3 bungalows continues to go up, the public employees will demand that they are not paid enough and want to be paid in 10 or 20 millions.

Hold the madness. Stop the dog from chasing its tail. It is never ending. It is unrestrained greed. The balloon must burst one day.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Hospital fees, legal fees and insurance premiums

The combination of these three elements in one go is the best we can get to emulate the great American society. We have arrived, in a way, like the Americans. And soon what is happening to AIG and the strong detest of the way they paid themselves will affect the people here. The AIG executives are living in fear of the brickbats that are coming their way. How long can they go on ripping the people off? The Americans are up in arms. And with the availability of firearms, do not be surprised if a few of them will be shot for crimes against the American public.

The American society is plagued by huge hospital fees, huge legal fees and huge insurance premiums. And the way things are, we are heading into the same quagmire. The beauty of it is that we know exactly what it is going to be and we believe that this is the solution for a rich country like ours, like the Americans. Just pay your way through. No money no talk.

How could the medical bill for a student suffering from leukemia reached $400K? Sure, you can count every item in the whole process, from ward charges to medicine and professional fees. So it is justifiable to charge that kind of inhuman fees? Totally transparent and accountable. This was the bill for Zhang Xiaoou that was highlighted in the Sunday Times today. How many people can afford this kind of money? Even $20k is a big problem to many.

Then the whole process, in the case of car insurance and claims for damages and injury involving legal fees, my goodness, we have progressed as a nation, as a people beyond any means. Everyone is getting rich in the whole process without asking anything about the conscience of making money. Just find the reason, right or wrong, legal or illegal, and make the other party pays. And finally the innocent motorists will be the ultimate paymaster.

And this is a free market economy. Nothing can be done. Everyone is paying market price for everything. It is the way and it should be.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Time for a petition to the govt

The motorists must do something to prevent the motor insurance companies from reaping them off with the reckless increase in insurance premiums. Many motorists have clean driving records and the NCD is supposed to recognise this by reducing their insurance premium. Instead, their insurance premiums are now ever higher than before.

How can this thing be allowed to go on and nothing can be done to it? Is there any govt organisation that can put a stop to this mindless daylight robbery?

It is time to petition the govt for action. Innocent motorists cannot just keep quiet and let the insurance companies imposed whatever premiums they deem fit when the high cost is not due to these motorists.

Can the govt agencies do something immediately? There is no point in talking cock and wasting time. Action is needed now. At least freeze the rate to last years and talk later.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Sentosa up its price for attractions

Some of the more popular attractions in Sentosa will have price hikes from $1 to $6. This is to increase the value of these attractions. Oh, like GST is to help the people. Quite logical actually.

Sentosa has spent quite a bit of money in an advertising blitz in February to attract visitors to the island. The money spent must come from somewhere. Further, one can expect that the attractions will be more attractive with the price hike as Sentosa is going to give more value for more money paid.

Just keep the entry into the island free and they can raise all the fees they want. Then it will be a case of demand and supply. I hope this island in the sun for Singaporeans will remain forever free. I dread the day when Singaporeans will again have to pay to visit the island.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

When privatisation is a fear word

Privatisation used to be the key word to symbolise improved efficiency, better quality of products and services and a necessary evil, higher cost. The last part is always unspoken. No body wants to talk about it.

Two letters by Ang Ah Ho and Zhuang Kuan Seng in the Sunday Times were literary pleading for mercy against HDB and privatisation. They questioned the role and responsibility of HDB in a tender exercise for Sengkang wet market. It went to the highest bidder, Renaissance Properties, at $500,001 pm. All these make business sense as the new tenants will definitely improve the efficiency of running the wet market as well as improving the quality and services.

The residents only see fear of higher cost of basic food that they will get from the market. And they were concerned even in the way HDB framed its reply in a nonchalant way. But they were barking up the wrong tree. HDB is no more a govt organisation. It is privatised, just like the wet market is going to be. And profit is one of its key goals. They must remember how the second batch of Duxton Pinnacles flat owners have to cough out another $200k for each unit because the prices of similar flats have gone up.

The residents in Sengkang should look at the brighter and positive side of things. Life style will improve with new concepts in wet marketing. The fish, meat and vegetables will be fresher and of better quality. And the stall holders will probably say thank you when they buy from them.

And the higher cost of living is just part of the deal. It has to be. But it will be very affordable. All new housing estates have better quality food courts than the heart of Raffles Place and Chinatown. The food centres at Golden Shoe, Hong Lim and Chinatown are much cheaper, $2.50 can get one a bowl of noodle or rice, mixed vegetable rice or chicken rice. But the quality must be not so good as the food courts at HDB estates, and no aircon some more. Soon everyone will be frequenting food courts in HDB estates.

I pray and pray that these hawker centres will not be privatised. Personally the quality of their food, at $2.50, is damn good. But I am biased. And so must be all the happy customers, some wearing ties and Prada frequenting them. Please do not privatise them. Not everybody has a first world income and want to pay first world prices for basic needs.

As for the Sengkang residents, they are welcome to Raffles Place to enjoy a $2.50 meal, if they can afford the train or bus fare. For the time being, they should count their blessings.

Actually we must be very thankful that the govt did not privatise all the ministries. Of course the quality and efficiency will improve, but the cost of their services will be much higher than now.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

4/22/2009
Motor Insurance Scam

No evidence does not mean that there is no fraud or cheating or false claims. And the culprits are a whole lot of people involved in the chain if what the insurance people claimed to know. And everyone is happy. Too difficult to unwind the mess. Insurers simply pay up or face an expensive lawsuit. Cheaper to pay and charge it to the innocent motorists in the form of insurance premiums. What the hell is going on?

What kind of country are we becoming when scams of such a huge nature affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent motorists could just be ignored with a shrug of the shoulder? Are we going to accept that this is the societal norm, that cheating can go on because it is too troublesome to nail the culprits?

Actually I don't think it is that difficult. Hang a few of them, jail them or make them pay hefty fines and put their faces on the front page of the newspaper, be they CEOs, workshop owners, doctors, insurance surveyors or lawyers or the motorists involved in the scam.

We cannot become another Nigeria! Is our country going to the pigs?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Motor Insurance - Must be the govt's fault.

In a discussion on the high motor insurance course the workshop, lawyers and insurance companies all denied that it was their fault. So if all of them are not at fault, so it must be the govt's fault lah. Logical right? Everyone is so innocent. The govt must come down hard on the culprits to clear its name and help motorists from being fleeced.

The best part is to hear recommendation that motorists should negotiate with insurance companies or go shopping for the best rate. Really, can do such thing meh? In a cartel like industry, and without insurance one cannot renew road tax or drive, who is calling the shot?

The motorists deserve a fairer system, reasonable premium and the govt to step him since no one is owning up. Would the govt come in to help the motorists or is it a buyers beware and free market system? Should we tell the motorists that it is there problem?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

CASE is working on the abuses in motoring insurance

Motorists should be heartened by CASE's involvement in the motoring insurance scam. It is reported that CASE will be setting up a review committee this month to look into the problem. High time.

One suggestion is for motorists to make statutory declarations of an accident. This of course will bring about more costs and time involvement. The question is, why is a police report not enough and a statutory declaration is deemed necessary? Can anyone make a false police report? I believe it is criminal and the person can be charged in court for doing so.

What I think is necessary is not to add more layers of administrative work and protective measures. The current procedure may be adequate. What it needs is enforcement and a team of people assigned to deal with it and make an example of a few cases of frauds, charged the culprits and send them to jail. That will send a strong signal to the crooks in the scam.

How ridiculous it is to pay $5000 pa or $400 a month just on insurance to have the right to drive a car? Many people may not even drive 10 days a month and it means they will have to pay $40 daily for it. ERP is expensive, what about insurance cost? This is a big reap off!

We are going into the realm of madness.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Great Singapore Sales going to HDB flats

Fernvale Crest, sounded like some place in Bukit Timah, very high end. No it is at the junction of Jalan Kayu and Sengkang West Way. Oops, Jalan Kayu, Sengkang! Anyway, it is BTO, so the design and quality must be good and the price, oh at a great discount, very affordable. They are cheaper by 35-45% from others in the vicinity. Now, isn't it a steal?

2 rm from $74k-$98k, 3 rm from $116k-$157k and 4 rm from $203k-$250k. Cheap, cheap and cheap. Less than 10 years ago, 4 rm flats probably cost about $120k. It depends on what you are comparing.

Go to the big shopping centres offering the Great Singapore Sales. Many have jacked up their prices only to bring it down as a great discount. That is ingenuity in pricing.

Don't worry about the pricing. Fernvale Crest is going to be our new standard for a Swiss Standard of living.
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.

[redbean]

Motor insurance premium increased by 400%!

Just read a reply from Pui Phusangmook, SVP & GM NTUC Income, to the claim by Tan Boon Tong that his repair bill was high, $19,800. The photos shown in the ST today, of the damage car in the workshop and those shown yesterday were grossly different. But that was not my concern.

I am startled by the comment that Tan Boon Tong's insurance premium had gone up by 400% because of the insurance claim. Actually no, I was not startled by this. I was shocked that his insurance premium would have gone up by 30% on renewal even if he has not make any claims.

Wow! 30% increases in premium for nothing! Is this robbery or what? Motorists just have to pay. What choice have they got? Go shopping and compare prices from one insurer to the next? Can they get their insurance from Malaysia?
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what i posted is just my personal view. feel free to disagree.