Insurance in Korea

After having moved to Korea not that long ago, I'm starting to figure out all the basic day-to-day stuff and I have realized that the national health insurance will be enough to cover health, but what about other insurances.

I have figured out that I should get a home insurance which will cover in the case of theft, fire or the like, but I am not sure exactly how to get this insurance and I am not sure if there are other insurances that would be beneficial to have.

So if people could share their experiences with the Korean insurance jungle, by answering some of the questions below, I would be most thankful.

Which insurances do you have?
Which insurance companies did you get your insurances from?
How much do you pay for your insurances?
Do you have your insurance policy in English or only in Korean?
Any other positive/negative experiences concerning insurances in Korea?

Best Regards,

Steffen

Tags: Insurance

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on August 29, 2010 at 11:29am

I don't know if there is this type of insurance in Korea, but in other parts of Asia/in the States you can get "renter's insurance" which will cover those areas noted above, if you are renting a property. Some good renter's insurance policies will even cover the possessions in your home if you are traveling with them and they are damaged, lost, or stolen.

I had policies through AIG/AIH in the past, and they were quite good. However, I'd imagine most of the larger international insurers would have such policies. You might ask your employer whom they use, and see if you could get a personal policy (for renter's insurance) through your employer's insurer. Otherwise, I've always found it best to get a referral so that you can be sure you are working with a reputable agent and insurer.

---Dom

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Permalink Reply by Conor J. Meagher on August 30, 2010 at 12:44am

While at University, they required health insurance, but the Graduate School recommended getting Travelers Insurance since it was the most affordable (~125,000KRW/year). This could be a nice supplemental plan that acts as a basic Life Insurance policy. I have no idea if you would qualify for it or if it's the best option. Just an idea.

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on August 30, 2010 at 3:37pm

Here's what we carry, all through the same Dongbu Insurance agent my wife knows.

1. Homeowners - This covers us for things like theft, fire and other damages to the apartment. There's probably a separate renters insurance available but ours is for owners. We pay about W100,000/month for W50 million coverage and we get our principle back at the end of the contract if we don't file a claim.

2. Auto - We have standard collision coverage.

3. Health - Just the standard national health plan that everyone's got. From an American's point of view, it's dirt cheap!

4. Injury - We've got some kind of "injury" coverage on our kids. I don't know the full details but apparently it fills in some of what the national health plan doesn't cover and we get our principle back at the end of the contract term. There are a million of these types of policies out there for various maladies and coverages. I'm not really thrilled with them though because they specify coverage only in cases of certain diseases.

In fact, Korean life insurance policies suffer from the same complicated conditions and that's why I've bought all our life insurance in the States. The Korean ones get really granular in their exceptions: double benefits for death in a car accident more than 100km from home on a weekend, but less coverage if on a weekday or less than 100km from home... Or triple benefits for death by certain disorders, but half coverage for cancer, etc...

The only experiences we've had with claims on the insurance was a very small fender-bender about a year ago. Our insurance company sent out their agent; so did the other car's company. The two of them took a look, judged it to be the other guy's fault, dropped off a rental car and took our car for repair. The car came back with a couple additional things fixed!

All of our policies are in Korean; I doubt they offer them in English.

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Permalink Reply by Erik Cornelius on August 30, 2010 at 4:59pm

My auto policy is through Chartis. They gave me the documentation in both English and Korean. The roadside assistance hotline, however, didn't seem to have any English-speaking operators. Had to make due in Korean.