You can't plan for the unexpected – but you can buy peace of mind

When you’re on a holiday that’s already costing you a small fortune, isn’t it worth shelling out a few extra hundred ringgit for that worry-free, 'what-if' peace of mind? — 123rf.com

In just a few weeks, I’ll – hopefully – be hiking up a foreign hillside with my family on a well-deserved holiday. Naturally, I’ve prepared the standard checklist: clothes for six days, two credit cards, cash in a money belt, and something 65.2% of Malaysians tend not to take along on their holidays: travel insurance.

A 2021 online survey showed that only 24.8% of Malaysians buy travel insurance, with 40% snatching it up at the last minute. Digging deeper, the European Union-Asean Business Council revealed that Malaysia’s overall insurance penetration is a measly 5.3% of GDP, trailing the global average of 7%.