The Official Helmi Hakim Website » Insurance

Is there such thing as Halal Insurance In Singapore?

Helmi Hakim — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:01:20 +0000

Note: This is a touchy issue, and may touch the raw nerves of a few people. If you will like to clarify on the matter, do it in a tactful and respectable manner at http://helmihakim.com/insurance/is-there-such-thing-as-halal-insurance-in-singapore/.

My blog attracts hundreds of visitors every single day and it is open for all.

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First and foremost, I will like to make it clear that, I try not to dodge on this issue, as 70% of my RSS subscribers are Non Muslims ~~riskofhighunsubscriberate~~, but I will like to offer my transparent perspective on this. (this might be an interesting read for you too)

I am not an ustaz or a religious leader. Neither am I, a scholar or an academician.

…but I do qualify myself, as a Malay/Muslim financial consultant in Singapore. In my 4 years of practice, I have done 4 death claims, and numerous hospitalisation claims. All are Muslims. I talk to people on the ground, every single day on financial planning.

The question that I will like to answer today, is there such a thing as halal insurance in Singapore?

There are many strong views on this, and all are entitled to your opinion. I am offering you mine. You can subscribe to it or you can choose to reject it….but do read on….

1) Takaful Plans

In Singapore, you might have heard about Takaful plans. Takaful plans are offered by 2 entities, a cooperative and a commercial bank.

Unlike Takaful plans in Malaysia, Indonesia or other Muslim countries, Takaful plans in Singapore, is basically an investment plan also known as Investment Linked Policies. It is an investment plan that invests your money in a fund, called Takaful fund. It is a shariah compliant fund and the plan comes with insurance coverage. Should death, total permanent disability or 30 critical illnesses were to strike, halal money from the Takaful proceeds will be given to the beneficiaries.

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Takaful is good, but not for all. This is because, Takaful is an investment plan. A responsible financial consultant, will not recommend an investment plan, to a conservative 50 year old Pakcik (uncle), looking forward for his retirement.

Neither, will he recommend the investment plan, for one who has a short term horizon of say, 5 years or one who is risk averse.

Nor, will he treats Takaful investment plan, as a “one size fits all solution” to all his clients, because Takaful investment plan does not cover many things, example, hospitalisation.

He must educate his clients, that Takaful is an investment plan, that offers coverage and returns subject to the performance of the fund. ~~ifnotyoulosemoneyclientwillfindyoulater~~

In Singapore, under section 27 of the financial advisors act, a financial advisor must determine the “risk profile” of the client before recommending him, financial instruments. If our client are able to take a bit of risk, Takaful investment plan is the solution to it.

So, if one is risk averse, how do we go about it?

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2) Cooperative insurance is the alternative.

When I recommend a life insurance policy to a client, I will give him choices. How do you want to get yourself covered?

Takaful Investment Plan with coverage? OR….. Cooperative Life Insurance?

There is a fatwa by MUIS, specially for the Muslim community in Singapore, on the permissibility of getting cooperative insurance in Singapore.

http://www.muis.gov.sg/cms/oomweb/fatwa.aspx?id=14384

Excerp from the fatwa,
“(i) Insurans yang ditadbirkan oleh syarikat kerjasama yang dianggotai oleh semua anggota-anggotanya untuk menjaga maslahat mereka dan apa yang diperlukan oleh anggota-anggotanya dari segi bantuan dan perkhidmatan, adalah seperkara yang diakui oleh syarak dan ia dari jenis bantu-membantu dalam kebajikan.

(ii) Begitu juga insurans syarikat mirip kerjasama (kooperatif) bagi maslahat masyarakat umum dan apa yang termasuk di dalamnya dari perkara seperti pengangguran, keuzuran, umur tua, kemalangan waktu bekerja dan yang seumpamanya, pihak konferensi telah memutuskan jenis insurans seperti ini adalah diharuskan. Dari itu ternyata bahawa insurans jenis kooperatif sahajalah yang dibolehkan oleh persidangan ulama antarabangsa itu.

Ini bererti juga bahawa insurans yang dikelolakan oleh syarikat-syarikat swasta yang bertujuan untuk mendapat keuntungan peribadi atau untuk faedah segelintir manusia telah tidak dapat pengakuan daripada para ulama yang menyertai persidangan Islam antarabangsa ini.”

I shall not go in details, the need of having such fatwa in Singapore. Nevertheless, this fatwa is helpful, to serve as an advice, for many Singaporean Muslims, in need of insurance, but do not know if they can get it.

Hospitalisation bills are enormously expensive? If no insurance, how?
Takaful Investment Plans are good, but I am risk averse. I need insurance, how?
Car insurance in Singapore is mandatory? If no insurance, how?

Answer: If you are living in Singapore, and you need insurances that Takaful Investment Plan does not offer, like hospitalisation insurance, car insurance, business insurance, mortgage protection insurance, property insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, Do Get It From A Cooperative.

At the end of the day, the choice is yours! Wassalam…..

My other related posts that may interest you:

Proven Methods I Learn In School To Help You Make Decisions…..

Helmi Hakim — Tue, 17 May 2011 17:35:38 +0000

Alhamdulillah….I completed my 2 exams, Advanced Quantitative Analysis and Corporate Finance, last week…

It is definitely challenging for me, to juggle both work and study at the same time, but I guess, I will soon, get used to it. I am thankful, that my job, as a financial consultant, is pretty FLEXIBLE.

We can make appointments as and when we want. We can postpone appointments, when the exams are drawing near….all in all, while still maintaining our steady paycheck. ~~Isnt that cool?~~

All right…. As I undertake my studies, I will share with you, stuffs, that I learn in school, which I believe, can be applied in the business world. Let us start, with MAKING DECISIONS…

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In life, we are bound to make DECISIONS.

It may be a big decision or a small one to make.

It may be a simple one, or a life threatening one.

It may be a routine one, or a ONE TIME decision.

Today, I am going to share with a you, a very good decision making model, that I have personally learnt in class and then apply, in the real business world. Just browse through the slides below to get an idea…

(Note: Some details were omitted due to confidentiality)

Lastly, after computing and tabulating the scores, a final decision is made!!!

My other related posts that may interest you:

Election Is Coming……What is on your wishlist???

Helmi Hakim — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:54:28 +0000

Election Is Coming……What is on your wishlist??? Do share with us here……

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Financial Consultant, Helmi Hakim Recommends IslamicBusiness.sg

Helmi Hakim — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:42:09 +0000

Is there at times in your life, where you were overwhelmed with questions?

Questions about life….Questions about relationship…..Questions about business….

Questions that it seems difficult in finding the answers, especially one, that in conjunction with the Quran and Hadith.

As a financial consultant, I would consider myself as a voracious reader and collector of books on personal finance, sales, motivational, inspirational, business and politics etc2….. (I have a huge library in my personal office and at home)

When imbued with questions, I will seek the answers from these books. While browsing through all those books in my collection, I soon realize that almost 90% of them were written by Western authors.

Motivational books, I will find the likes of Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Stephen Covey, Wayne Dyer

Book on sales, I will find Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Jeff Gitomer

Books on business, I will find Robert Kiyosaki, Richard Branson, Donald Trump

Books on motivation, sales and business, in relevance with Quran and Hadith, and in English???
I could not find any, of quality….

So, when my friend, Bro Hafihz, starts with the revolutionary idea of IslamicBusiness.SG, I was happy. This is because, if I have any queries, I can always type in the website and answers will be provided by a panel of experts, and it will be substantiated with the Quran and Hadith.

The point system is also helpful, for me to determine, amongst all the answers to the question, which is the best.

I will urge you, to browse through the questions that I have posted, and participate. Share your thoughts, and post questions if you have any……Visit www.islamicbusiness.sg today…

My other related posts that may interest you:

$100,000 in 10 Months- T Harv Eker Guerilla Marketing In Action…## Strategy 1

Helmi Hakim — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:27:34 +0000

These few days, I have been meeting financial advisors from other tied insurance companies and independent firms….and guess what?

I get to know, all of them through this blog!!! powerla

You know as I joined Cabaran 101010, where we challenged ourselves to achieve $100,000 in net profit within 10 months, I have made a conscious decision to blog what I have learnt along the way. Maybe, if you are a financial advisor too, reading this blog, you can share your strategies…. We can learn from each other.

I will blog what I have learnt along the way, from people who surrounds me, or from books that I have read.

I realize that by doing so, it forces me to think and reflect more, on how, I can use what I have learnt, and further apply it to improve my business. I will apply it, contextually in my situation.

Today, I just read 8 Wealth Tactics From T Harv Eker Guerilla Marketing Strategies.

Note: As the strategies will require some bits of explanation, I will blog, 1 strategy each day,and show how I will apply that strategy in my business.

Strategy 1: Business is as simple as KISS

KISS stands for Keep It Short and Simple.

In business, you dissect it into 3.

1) Create
2) Sell
3) Admin

For any business to succeed, you need to focus MORE on selling. If you are not selling, you won’t make money. If this means that you have to reduce your admin, or outsource, then you should because you only get paid when you sell.

The ideal breakdown of your resource and time allocation should be:

1) create – 20%
2) sell – 60%
3) admin – 20%

APPLICATION ON STRATEGY 1

I realise, that at times, I spend more time, on idling. Surfing the net, chatting with friends, facebooking, reading etc2…. and generally all these activities are not money-making for me. THERE ARE 2 THINGS THAT I WILL DO IMMEDIATELY….

Roadshows- There are about 30 days in a month. 2 weeks in a month, I will allocate time for roadshows. From there, I will generate leads, or perhaps generate clients immediately, through special needs, financial planning. Just by that, 50% of my time, is focused on selling.

Telemarketing- Business are always generated through appointments with clients.No appointments = No business

I will make Friday, a telemarketing day for me. Friday will be a day, where I will call all my leads for the following week appointments. I need to have at least 15 appointments, for the following week, before I can go home. No 15 appts = Cannot go home

By having 15 appointments per week, it will also ensures that I dedicate much of my time on selling, in my context, advising my clients how they can grow their money, make their money work harder for them, all in all, to achieve their financial objectives.

Brilliant!!!! Sounds like a game plan to me!!! Stay tune on my blog, to read the other 7 strategies that I will apply…. For now, I will work on this first…Take one step at a time….. I will update you of my progress!!! See ya!!!!