Is Starr Travel Insurance a complete scam?
Serious Discussion
Bought their travel insurance for a trip in Jan because it was recommended by Moneysmart and due to travel delays, we was supposed to receive a payout via PayNow - which they confirmed via email. However, they have been completely stonewalling us ever since and despite multiple polite reminders, they have yet to process the payout.
Anyone else has had a horrible experience with them too?
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Had a 4 day baggage delay in January. Bought some basic replacements (less than $150) for necessities (toiletries, t-shirts etc.).
Submitted a claim in February.
Radio silence for weeks - beyond the 6-week window they state. Chasing by email and phone did result in replies but it took at least a week each time and generally just a holding messages.
Seems they outsource their claims handling to another organisation.
I did start wondering if the whole setup is a scam. But I eventually got a confirmation and the payout at the start of May.
So I think the summary is that they will payout but it is lower priced for a reason.
Other tip - make sure all documents are in order and submitted at the outset. I would dread to think how long much longer the claim would take if they needed to clarify something (assuming they don’t just reject).
HSBC Same, out Sourced claim. My flt from Singapore was delayed due to congestion and almost 30 min of taxing. I missed my connecting flt. The next flt to my destination was 24 hours later. Though the airline gave me hotel stay. #HSBC rejected my claim giving lame reasons. I missed my nephews wedding! Insurance is a scam.
Yeah. Just use FWD…
Have you made successful claims with FWD before?
Yup. Got the money via paynow in like 1 business day.
I also recommend FWD, got confirmation of my claim in 1 day, payout in 48 hours
Seconding FWD.
I have made claims many time. It’s seriously so easy. I’ve even called their emergency number overseas and got advice for my situation.
I've claimed medical a couple times, fuss free and quick.
Yeah a couple of times. Usually get paid quite fast once it's approved
As far as travel insurance goes (no experience claiming against other types of policies), FWD is class-leading in terms of ease of filing claims and speed of paying claims. While they used to charge really low premiums, it is no longer the case, but they are still worth it because they actually provide, you know, a premium service.
TLDR: yes, imo they are worth the extra $
Couple of times.
Biggest one was medical where I hit my foot on corals towards the end of the trip, and only got proper treatment for it back in Singapore after the trip as first aid treatment on location was not enough and it got a bit infected.
They never questioned anything and just paynow me the money.
Last one was 150$ for flight delay which they also paid.
I don’t agree with the exclusions, coverage levels and price of FWD policies.
But at least you get what you pay for. Good luck getting better terms elsewhere, if you'll never actually get a payout..
That’s fair enough. It is just that if the coverage does not match my needs it is also a waste.
Everyone has different needs - so what doesn’t work for me, might actually work for someone else.
This saying ‘use this other provider’ is an over simplification.
Send them another email demanding they pay you by X date if not you report them to MAS
This. I threatened them after radio silence for months with no replies to my claims. Suddenly fast wor. But I didn't threaten MAS but fidrec.
Mentioning Fidrec works wonders. Mention MAS only on regulatory matters for insurers.
Thank you. I'll try that
report to Fidrec, that's their regulator
Yes, similar experience. Pointed me to some line in t&c that says flight cancellations by airline not covered.
wow then what’s the point of insurance
As my doctor pointed out, they're easy to buy but hard to claim. Always read the T&C's.
You need to read the terms over the cause of delay. Some policies cover delays caused by mechanical fault only, not by weather, etc.
A lot of travel insurance has wording to make sure that only very specific proclamations by airlines are claimable.
For example, my flight went on strike and was pushed to the next day. I was unable to claim for my hotel booking as it is a “reschedule”, not a delay.
The airline will reimburse you by right. So the insurer can’t double pay.
Exact same experience. My flight got cancelled and my flight changed to a next day flight. Starr outright refused, saying since there is no official documentation blah blah on mechanical fault, so we cannot claim. Tried getting official documentation from Malaysia Airlines but that’s another shit customer service. Pls avoid Starr.
I emailed them to claim for my flight delays in Jan 2023 but they never got back to me with any email to state the payout. Multiple follow-up emails to them was also ignored.
I have good experiences with FWD Insurance. All claims are submitted online and FWD pays promptly once the documents meet the basic list as requested in the clearly-laid insurance policy. Funds transfer through Paynow or bank account online within a week. I hope it will continue to be fair and responsive even after the company is publicly listed..🤞
Yes they are a scam company.
Avoid MSIG as well. Seems reputable but in the event of a claim, they make you run circles, producing stupid documentation (e.g. asking for price breakdown for food etc. on a cruise, which no operator will provide as it's all-inclusive). Their loss adjuster FortisCor have no idea what they're asking for but just stick to their guns else your claim gets stuck.
I've had very good experiences with AiG with claims in the past. No questions asked and refunds into my account within a few weeks. Sometimes it's better to spend a little more and save yourself the hassle of dealing with a shitty insurance company
Yea i had good experiences with AIG as well; relatively simple to claim, no questions asked. Have been sticking with them ever since.
They’re the worst. Their google reviews reflect their absolute lack of service.
It took 8 weeks to even get a response and a further 8 weeks to get paid - all for a very straightforward claim.
Now (2nd claim under annual policy) they’re trying to claim cancelled flights to KL aren’t covered as a cancellation because we drove up the next day (this the trip wasn’t cancelled). It’s a very drawn out process as the claims department doesn’t take calls and they always take 1+ months to respond to emails.
I bought in Jan too.
I submitted a claim against star insurance and i got the claim reimbused in April.
I received the email confirming payout in March.
So probably it takes awhile for them to do the transfer.
I got the email in March confirming payout too but they never actually transferred me the money and they are ignoring my emails as well. And it's almost June already.
Did you check if they actually paid you?
Yes i checked my account and saw the payment come in.
They do take very long to reply to emails so hopefully your payment comes in soon.
Dang, I just started a claim with them last week...
Yup, tried to claim for a delay that resulted in me missing connection, thus I booked another flight. They said never delay more than 6h means cannot claim under missed connection. Never buying with them again
this one need to see the terms and conditions
the airline must first rebook for you. and if the new flight is lesser than 6h, you cannot claim if you rebook another flight
i got a cancelled flight that was rebooked to 7 days later, so i book a 2 days later flight with other airline. my insurance with NTUC, took me 4 months of talking and negotiating with them before they let me claim my rebooked flight. and actually due to difference in exchange rate (my bank credit card and their payment exchange rate) my claim was about 1k lesser than what i paid. but able to claim back 90% already good enough for me
insurance claim really stressful but still we need it
Won't comment on the first part since that's dependent on situation, but agreed with last sentence since I typically fly quite regularly (4-6 times a year). I don't think my original comment said anything about not needing travel insurance. I'll just buy with a less stressful provider.
MSIG also dragging our payments, threatened to call police then they sped things up
Should read each company's google review before you buy. Starr's is really poor.
1.6 / 5
Starr International Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd
must remember moneysmart and websites like them get referral fees...
and #1, they can promise coverage all they want but in the end claim is the most important.
Is MoneySmart a reliable brand to begin with?
Why such vested trust in MoneySmart to begin with?
By the reported anecdotal experiences by Starr Travel Insurance, endorsed by MoneySmart - collectively both entities are swimming in their own cesspools of married unreliability, distrust and lack of justified call-to-actions.
Hope you all get your deserved claims from Starr, and MoneySmart is defo blacklisted in my future online optics.
Moneysmart doesn’t actually vet anything. They’re simply an “insurance agent” or salesman.
Besides your insurance, you can also claim compensation based on some international aviation laws. The most comprehensive would be EC261 under EU if you went to or departed from an EU country, including UK.
You can claim it on your own or get some organisations to help represent you for the claims. However, take note that using their services would mean that you get compensated less as the organisation would take some of the compensation money for their service. They usually take about 20-30% of the compensation money.
Some examples of such an organisation would be AirHelp and FlightRight.
https://www.airhelp.com/en-int/
https://www.flightright.com
Upvote for awareness. Yes complete scam, they are priced the lowest and if you compare their terms its intentionally narrow so you can't claim for the typical things that can be claimed.
How is ntuc? I'm considering them for their travel delay which doesn't exclude operational delay. (It is however excluded for cancellation, postponing, shortening, and disruption. However travel delay doesn't seem to be a sensible reason to do any of these to your trip)
i usu used income. i made a claim in Jan 23 for a cancelled flight, which was my 1st time claiming.
but they tried to pushed it to trip delay and paid me for 42hrs of trip delay by saying is airline fault (operational so unclaimable). but i kept appealing for trip disruption, and finally after 4months they agreed to pay me under trip disruption (trip delay claim $2100 > trip disruption claim $5200)
but yes for the trip delay, they approve and payout within days after approval.
Thank you for sharing!
And thats why I don't buy insurance unless compulsory by law.
Yes, similar experience. Went to hospital overseas and they haven’t replied for almost a month regarding my claims. Am considering reaching out to MAS as well.
FWD FTW. Once I started using them for travel, I never stopped. All claims processed, no fuss, no delays.