Great Eastern Home Insurance Review (2024): Property Coverage With First Loss Benefit

Great Eastern Home Insurance protects homeowners against the risks of under-insurance, but does that feature alone make it a suitable policy for you?

Under-insuring your home property can result in penalties that reduce the insurance benefits you ultimately receive when making a claim.

This means that the insurance payout will be lower than originally thought, which can put homeowners in a financial bind – as if dealing with the aftermath of a home fire or burglary isn’t already stressful enough!

To head off such unwelcome complications, homeowners should consider looking into Great Eastern Home Insurance, which comes with First Loss benefit that eliminates any penalties of under-insurance.

Here’s a review of this home insurance plan, how it works, and why it might be the ideal plan for you.

Pros and cons of Great Eastern Home Insurance

Key features of Great Eastern Home Insurance

#1. Choose from all-risks or insured perils

Great Eastern Home Insurance allows you to choose between all-risks cover, or insured perils only.

What this means is that you can choose to cover only against the events spelled out in your policy (in Great Eastern’s case, fire, smoke damage, burglary, flood, bursting of water tanks or pipes), or to cover against loss or damage arising from all causes (less specifically excluded events, some of which are spelled out in Exclusions to Note section below).

Note that absent add-ons and additional coverage, all-risks cover (HomeGR8 Plus) is about twice as costly as the version for insured perils only (HomeGR8 Essential). Regardless of the price difference, both plans remain competitively priced at their most basic configurations.

#2. First Loss benefit eliminates under-insurance risk

Great Eastern Home Insurance is offered under a First Loss basis, which eliminates the risk of under-insuring your home.

If the insurance coverage you have purchased for your home is lower than the cost of reinstatement or replacement of contents at the time of loss, you would be considered to have under-insured your home or property.

As a result, the benefits paid out to you will be reduced proportionately, which means you may have to cover higher-than-expected costs out of your own pocket.

However, with a First Loss policy, you will not be penalised even if you under-insure your home. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to make sure you have sufficiently high home insurance so you are adequately covered in all circumstances.

#3. Highly customisable benefits with useful add-ons

Another reason to consider Great Eastern Home Insurance is the high degree of flexibility offered to policyholders.

You are free to increase the coverage for your property up to your exact preference and need, and can further customisable your plan with an array of optional add-ons.

Two notable ones are personal accident benefits for you and your family, and personal belongings cover that protect your possessions during travel or transit.

Important exclusions to note

We’ve highlighted some of the general exclusions to note. For the full set of exclusions, be sure to consult your policy document, or check directly with Great Eastern when purchasing the plan.

The policy does not cover:

• Loss or damage arising from disease outbreak declared an epidemic or pandemic by the World Health Organization
• Loss of property due to actions by government authorities
• Accident, loss, damage or liability due to war, mutiny, civil war or terrorism
• Loss or damage through wilful acts, negligence or carelessness by you or members of your family
• Landslip or subsidence

Who is Great Eastern Home Insurance best for?

Great Eastern Home Insurance is a budget-friendly and highly customisable home insurance plan that is well-suited to the needs of landlords, homeowners and tenants.

One highlight is the addition of First Loss benefit which eliminates the risk of under insurance. Another is the option to add on useful benefits such as personal accident cover (protects you and your family when outside the home) and personal belongings cover (useful during travel or when in transit)..

This home insurance policy is a compelling option for virtually anyone seeking property coverage for their home and contents.

Plan tiers, premiums and latest promotions

Great Eastern Home Insurance is available in two tiers – HomeGR8 Essential, and HomeGR8 Plus. Both offer the same level of benefits and scope of coverage.

However, HomeGR8 Essential only covers Insured Perils – i.e, loss or damage to your property or belongings arising from events specified in your policy document. In contrast, HomeGR8 Plus covers against all risks; that’s to say, you may claim for damage or loss from all causes not specifically excluded in the policy.

Below, we have summarised Great Eastern Home Insurance for a quick reference. For the full details, be sure to refer to the Great Eastern website.

How much does Great Eastern Home Insurance cost?

The premiums above are for policies that do not include any increased coverage or optional add-ons.

What promotions are there for Great Eastern Home Insurance?

• Sign up for a three-year plan and enjoy 15% discount
• Applicable to both HomeGR8 Essential and HomeGR8 Plus plans

How to claim?

Follow these five steps to make a claim.

1. Notify the relevant parties (agent, landlord) or call Great Eastern at 6248 2638. If a burglary or theft was involved, make a police report within 24 hours.
2. Mitigate loss and collect information
1. Prevent further loss by separating dry or undamaged items from wet or burnt ones.
2. Do not dispose of damaged items unless given written consent.
3. Take photographs of damaged items and retain them for inspection.
4. Assist and cooperate with the loss adjuster who may be sent.
5. In case of damage to property or bodily injury of a third party -
1. Note down the particulars of the third party
2. Obtain the details of the nature and extent of claim
3. Do not admit liability, negotiate, or make any settlements without our prior written consent.
4. Immediately inform us when you receive any letter of demand, Writ of Summons, etc. from the third party.
3. Complete the relevant claim form(s)
1. Property Damage claim form
2. Personal Liability claim form
3. Personal Accident claim form
4. Attach copies of all receipts and relevant supporting documents (police report, photographs of damaged belongings, assessment report from repairer, invoices and receipts, etc.)
5. Submit your documents to Great Eastern
1. Email: NonMotorClaims-SG@greateasterngeneral.com
2. Post: Claims Department, Great Eastern General Insurance Limited, 1 Pickering Street, #01-01, Great Eastern Centre, Singapore 048659