Best Insurance and Takaful in Malaysia for B40 and M40 On A Budget

Looking for the best insurance in Malaysia that is also budget-friendly? If your current money situation is tight, then these online insurance and takaful options are affordable and most importantly, better than nothing.

At a glance, the insurance are:

1. Perlindungan Tenang (various protection products for B40, sole breadwinners and people with vulnerable dependents)
2. mySalam (FREE critical illness insurance/takaful; for Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M), Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH), Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR), Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) and Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) recipients only)
3. EPF i-Lindung (life and critical illness insurance/takaful; for EPF depositors with balance in Akaun 2)
4. SOCSO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (for self-employed and gig workers)
5. SOCSO Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or SKSSR (for women)
6. INSAN – Skim Insurans Am Selangor (FREE RM10k life insurance only for Selangorians)
7. TH Khairat (RM12k Life takaful for just RM28 per year; for Muslims with Tabung Haji account)
8. Online Critical Illness Protection (critical illness insurance; for everyone)
9. Online Medical Insurance (medical card; for everyone)

What type of protection a person needs varies depending on their life situation, but generally speaking you should aim to have all four of the main ones: life insurance, personal accident insurance, critical illness and medical insurance.

The products in this page is designed for those on a small-ish budget, below RM100. However, if you have RM100-500 per month to spend and afraid of being sold the wrong products, get my How to Buy Your Own Damn Insurance/Takaful course on Shopee.

Click on the link or image below for product description and reviews.

For now, let’s go over each of the affordable options one by one.

#1 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for B40: Perlindungan Tenang

Perlindungan Tenang is specifically designed for the B40 community.

As of time of writing, there are 24 insurance/takaful options listed on the Perlindungan Tenang product page, including life insurance/takaful, personal accident, hospital income, even fire insurance for kampung house.

You can find more information on each product’s coverage by clicking the grey button.

Personally, I think Perlindungan Tenang is good… but the product options can be overwhelming for someone who is unfamiliar with insurance and takaful options. One probably will need an agent’s help to explain the products and recommend suitable ones for them.

#2 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for B40 (critical illness): MySalam

MySalam is a special programme for recipients of Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M), Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH), Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR), Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) and Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR).

Those enrolled in the MySalam programme will get:

• a one-off RM8000 lump sum upon diagnosed with one of the 45 critical illnesses, and
• RM50 cash as hospitalisation benefit for a maximum of 14 days

At the cost of FREE, this is the best B40 insurance in this list. Enrolment is targeted too – those eligible for MySalam should have received a sms. You can also send an inquiry at info@mysalam.com.my or call them at 1 300 888 938.

#3 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for EPF Depositors: i-Lindung

Now EPF depositors can use your funds from Account 2 to sign up for life and critical illness insurance / takaful via i-Lindung programme.

Simply log into your i-Akaun account, select ‘i-Lindung’ on the dashboard and you’ll be directed to the i-Lindung portal.

The amazing thing about EPF’s i-Lindung is you can straightaway get a quotation and product options, based on your Akaun 2 remaining balance and your profile (gender, age, smoker status etc). I highly recommend trying it out.

#4 – Best Freelance Insurance in Malaysia: SOCSO’s Self-Employment Social Security Scheme

(Note: This is not technically an insurance, but the benefits are similar enough so that’s why I included it here)

Those who are employed are already paying PERKESO/SOCSO (or you should be – check with your employers). This particular plan is for those who are self-employed, including those working in the gig economy. The benefits, which I think is *excellent*, is as follows:

This Scheme provides protection for self-employed insured persons against employment injuries including occupational diseases and accidents during work-related activities.

Self-employment injury means personal injury to self-employed insured person caused by an accident or an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of his or her self-employment activity including while travelling for the purpose of his or her self-employment activity.

Occupational disease is a disease caused by or arising from any occupation specified in the Fifth Schedule of the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969. This scheme provides cash benefits to the insured persons and their dependants besides medical treatment, physical rehabilitation and vocational training.

Basically, you get:

• Medical Benefit
• Temporary Disablement Benefit
• Permanent Disablement Benefit
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Dependant’s Benefit
• Funeral Benefit
• Education Benefit
• Facilities for physical or vocational rehabilitation

All in one plan!

Contribution-wise, your plan depends on your monthly earning. The higher your insured monthly earning, the higher your contribution per month/year. There are four plans, ranging from RM13.10 to RM49.40 contribution per month:

Plan	Insured Monthly Earning	Contribution Payment Per Month	Contribution Payment Per Year
1	RM1,050	RM13.10	RM157.20
2	RM1,550	RM19.40	RM232.80
3	RM2,950	RM36.90	RM442.80
4	RM3,950	RM49.40	RM592.80

For more info on enrolling in this scheme, please refer to my article How to Apply for SOCSO / PERKESO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme

#5 – SOCSO Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or SKSSR

(Note: This is also not technically an insurance, but the benefits are similar enough so that’s why I included it here)

Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or Skim Keselamatan Sosial Suri Rumah (SKSSR) is a new scheme under PERKESO designed especially for housewives women. For only RM120 a year or RM10 per month, you get the following benefits.

• Medical Benefit
• Permanent Disablement Benefit
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Dependant’s Benefit
• Funeral Benefit
• Physical Rehabilitation or Dialysis Facilities
• Survivors’ Pension

For more info on enrolling in this scheme, please refer to my article How to Apply for Housewives’ Social Security Scheme or SKSSR under SOCSO/PERKESO

#6 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for Selangorians: INSAN – Skim Insurans Am Selangor

INSAN or Skim Insurans Am Selangor is a FREE initiative from the Selangor state government. You can get the RM10k life coverage if:

• Your IC is registered in Selangor, or
• Your latest address is registered in Selangor, or
• You are a voter in Selangor

To claim, you must:

• Download WavPay app (find in AppStore)
• Click Daftar Sekarang banner (see image below)
• Go through the quick registration steps. My tip is to have a clear pic of your IC ready

At the cost of FREE, this is the best B40 insurance in this list.

#7 – Best Takaful in Malaysia for B40 Muslims: TH Khairat

The best takaful in Malaysia, if you define best as ‘affordable’ is undoubtedly TH Khairat by Tabung Haji. According to the writeup in Tabung Haji’s THJari app,

TH Khairat is a voluntary plan which offers basic Takaful coverage of RM12,000 against death or total permanent disability (TPD) at an attractive low annual premium of RM28 per year to TH depositors.

The coverage will provide financial aid to the beneficiaries in the event of death of the subscribers and RM2,000 can partly be turned into a donation (Infaq) on behalf of the deceased to the charity organisations named in the plan.

Did you get that? TH Khairat is just RM28 per year! That’s just RM2.33 per month! You can also allocate RM2,000 of the RM12,000 into a donation for extra pahala points.

At RM12,000, granted the coverage is low (to be given to beneficieries in the event of your death, or total permenent disability), but this is a great better-than-nothing option.

Subscribing to TH Khairat is easy as well. Here are the steps:

• (Have an active account with Tabung Haji)
• Download Tabung Haji’s THJari app in your phone and register
• Go to Menu > TH Khairat > Registration
• Fill in your details and beneficieries
• Pay RM28, deducted from your Tabung Haji account balance
• Done! This is a term plan so you’ll pay RM28 again for next year

#8 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for Online Critical Illness Protection

You will want critical illness protection. This is the one that’ll give you a lump sum of money when you get really sick, so you can use it to pay for life’s expenses. Ideally, you want at least a few years’ worth of living expenses. At a minimum.

If you are not eligible for critical illness protection from EPF i-Lindung, you can get from these two providers:

1. FWD Takaful Big 3 Critical Illness Protection Plan (covers Cancer, Stroke and Heart Attack), or
2. MSIG EZ Critical Care and EZ Cancer Care (covers Cancer, Heart Attack, Stroke and Kidney Failure)

For the two plans above, you’re only covered for 3 or 4 critical illnesses out of the usual 36/40 critical illnesses, but those 3 or 4 make up 85-90% of critical illness claims.

Prices depend on gender, age and smoking status. As a benchmark, at time of writing, I’m a 33 year-old non-smoker and my quote for both plans is:

• RM27.68 per month (RM100k sum assured) for the FWD Takaful plan, and
• RM10.96 per month (RM50k sum assured) for the MSIG EZ Critical Care Plan

As someone who is actually paying RM171 per MONTH for RM200k for critical illness insurance, believe me when I say the two options above are much more affordable. If you’re B40 looking for critical illness insurance, definitely look into the options and subscribe as soon as you can.

The downside is, of course, you won’t be covered for the other illnesses (among others). But seeing the odds.. and considering the limitation of budget.. it’s not a bad decision to make.

#9 – Best Insurance in Malaysia for Medical Insurance

Last but not least, you can get affordable medical insurance directly from insurance/takaful providers.

I actually made a separate article for this; 6 Affordable Medical Insurance You Can Buy Online in 15 Minutes. In the article, I’ve listed 6 online medical providers. They are:

• PRO-Health Medical by Tune Protect
• Medical plans by Fi.Life
• eMedic Plus by AXA
• i-Great Medi Care by Great Eastern Takaful
• MedicNOW by Berjaya Sompo
• Takaful myClick MediCare

Do visit the article because in each section, I will show you the quotations I got, the plan at a glance as well as their pros and cons. At the end of the article, I’ll also share which online medical provider you may want to go with.

Are there any other affordable insurance company in Malaysia that I missed?

What other affordable insurance company in Malaysia or online insurance options deserve to be on this list? What other tips do you know to balance cost and coverage? Would love to hear your tips and advice – share them in the comments section below!

Bonus section- Does this insurance cover…

1) Does insurance cover therapy?

As a general rule, no. Insurance does not cover therapy.

2) Does insurance cover abortion?

No. Insurance does not cover abortion.

3) Does insurance cover IVF?

No. Insurance does not cover IVF. However you may be able to withdraw from EPF for fertility treatment.

4) Does insurance cover contacts?

No. Insurance does not cover contacts. You may want to opt for glasses instead – if you know where to look, you can find cheap spectacles in Malaysia quite easily.

5) Does insurance cover Plan B?

No. Insurance does not cover Plan B.

6) Does insurance cover dental implants?

As a general rule, no. Insurance does not cover dental implants.

However, it may be possible in very specific situations. For example, if you got the SOCSO / PERKESO Self-Employment Social Security Scheme and, I don’t know, a freak accident happened while you were working and you lost some teeth, then you may be able to make a claim and use the funds to cover the cost of dental implants.