The second-hand insurance market is not regulated or licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

As such, consumers who buy such products cannot rely on laws administered by MAS to take action against either the intermediary who resold or packaged the policies, or the distributor of the policies, should they encounter any problems, said an MAS spokesman.

She added that there are several risks involved in buying and selling traded life policies and traded endowment policies. For instance, investors would need to continue to pay the policy premiums until the policy matures or the insured person dies.

The MAS spokesman said: "Policyholders who are having difficulties paying their premiums because of cash-flow issues should carefully consider their long-term insurance protection needs, especially amid the current challenging global health environment."

A spokesman for the Life Insurance Association Singapore said the industry has introduced several measures to support policyholders during this trying time, such as a second deferred premium payment (DPP) window for new applications, as the initial DPP scheme came to a close on Sept 30.

Consumers may wish to find out more about dealing with the various financial situations that have arisen as a result of Covid-19 at www.moneysense.gov.sg/financialresilience

Joyce Lim