Key takeaways
- At Great Eastern Life, premiums can be paid yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly, monthly only by GIRO, credit card or banker's order, and you can change the payment mode or method on e-Connect.
- Adding a rider or raising the sum assured varies the contract, so under Schedule 9 of Malaysia's Financial Services Act 2013 you must answer the health questions carefully again, and the extra cover starts only after approval and full payment.
- Reducing the basic sum assured of a traditional policy does not refund the extra premiums already paid, and bonuses are recalculated on the lower sum assured from the start of the policy.
- Under Schedule 10 of the Financial Services Act 2013, a nomination ends only by written notice to the insurer, a new nomination or the death of all nominees, never by a will, a marriage or any other event.
- If you are a non-Muslim who nominated your spouse or child (or a parent when you had neither), the policy is a trust policy, and you cannot revoke the nomination, vary or surrender it without the trustee's written consent.
- A health loading or exclusion can be reviewed only after the policy has been in force for more than one year, and only through fresh underwriting.
What can I change on my policy, and what needs a new health declaration?
People often ask me this a few years after they buy: their income has changed, a baby has arrived, or the medical card premium has gone up. Most of the time the policy can be adjusted, and that is usually better than cancelling and buying again, because your old waiting periods are long over. Using the service forms Great Eastern Life publishes, the common changes sort out like this:
| What you want to change | New health declaration? | How at Great Eastern | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment frequency (yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, monthly) | No | Online on e-Connect, or the PSF01 form | Monthly only by GIRO, credit card or banker's order |
| Payment method (for example card auto-debit) | No | Online on e-Connect | Pay the insurer only, never a personal account |
| Lower sum assured, lower regular premium, cancel a rider | No | Request for Contractual Changes (PSF01) | No refund of past premiums; getting the cover back means underwriting again |
| Higher sum assured, add a rider | Yes | Request for Contractual Changes with Health Declaration (PSF02) | Cover starts only after approval; the insurer decides |
| Upgrade, downgrade or convert a medical plan (including medical riders) | Yes | PSF02 | After a medical rider upgrade, illness in the first 30 days and specified illness in the first 120 days is paid under the old plan's limits |
| Ask to reduce or remove a loading or exclusion | Yes | PSF02 (appeal) | Only after the policy has been in force for more than one year |
| Change nominee or trustee | No | Nomination form | A trust policy needs the trustee's written consent |
| Address, phone, email | No | My Profile on e-Connect | Other personal detail changes take about 5 working days |
Sources: Great Eastern's pages on increasing benefits and medical plan conversion and reducing the sum assured or cancelling a rider. Schedules 9 and 10 of the Act are law and bind every licensed insurer, but forms and procedures differ between insurers, and whether a change is allowed always depends on your policy terms and the insurer's approval.
Adding a rider or increasing the sum assured: what happens?
More cover means more risk for the insurer, so it is underwritten like a new application. Great Eastern's PSF02 form says the request is subject to underwriting and continued evidence of insurability, and the company may ask for further requirements.
Your duty of disclosure comes back
Paragraph 5 of Schedule 9 of the Financial Services Act 2013 lets an insurer ask specific questions before a consumer insurance contract is entered into or varied, and you must take reasonable care not to misrepresent anything when you answer. The duty lasts until the contract is entered into, varied or renewed. Being healthy when you first bought the policy five years ago does not mean you can tick the same boxes today: specialist visits, scans and new medicines since then all need to go on the form. My guide on the health declaration explains what happens at claim time if something is left out.
When does the new cover start?
- The form states that the additional cover does not take effect until the application is fully accepted and the full premium is paid while the life assured is in good health. Paying early does not commit the insurer to accept.
- If your health or circumstances change between the application and the approval, you must tell the insurer in writing.
- A new critical illness rider has its own waiting periods. The form's appendix lists those under Great Eastern's current critical illness endorsement (No. 361), for example 60 days for heart attack of specified severity and 30 days for stroke.
- On an investment-linked policy, the new insurance charges are priced from the policy's monthlyversary date, and the expected outcome of the sustainability test is given within 14 days of a complete application. Higher charges mean the total investment value (TIV) may not last to the end of the term, and investment returns are not guaranteed.
Upgrading a medical card: the 30-day and 120-day rule
When you upgrade or convert a medical rider, Great Eastern applies a conditional waiver of waiting period: an illness within 30 days, or a specified illness within 120 days, of the Replacement Date is paid on the old rider's limits and terms, and the new limits apply after that. You are still covered during that time, just on the old plan. An example, with assumed dates:
| Assumed event (Replacement Date 1 March) | Days after the change | Which plan pays? |
|---|---|---|
| Admitted for an ordinary illness on 20 March | Day 19 | Old plan's limits and terms |
| Diagnosed with a specified illness on 10 April | Day 40 | Old plan's limits and terms (specified illness uses 120 days) |
| Admitted for an ordinary illness on 10 April | Day 40 | New plan's limits and terms |
| Diagnosed with a specified illness on 15 July | Day 136 | New plan's limits and terms |
Which conditions count as specified illnesses depends on your medical rider's wording, and that is something I check with you line by line.
Lowering your premium: think before you cut cover or drop a rider
When premiums feel heavy, reducing the sum assured or cancelling one rider is usually better than surrendering the whole policy, because you keep the policy, the waiting periods already served and the terms you were accepted on. A few things to know first:
- Lower basic sum assured on a traditional policy: Great Eastern's PSF01 form says the excess past premiums are not refunded, and any bonus is based on the reduced sum assured from the start of the policy.
- Partial conversion of a term policy: if the remaining sum assured falls below the minimum allowed, the balance is forfeited.
- Cancelling a rider: that cover ends. Adding it back later means applying again at your age and health at that time. The form also warns that switching to a different benefit or product means losing your existing cover, possibly paying more and not getting the same terms, with new waiting periods and new exclusions possible.
- Lower premium on an investment-linked policy: the cover may look the same, but the monthly insurance charges still come out of the account value. Look at your latest policy statement first and make sure the value can carry it.
The order I usually look at
When I go through premium cuts with a family, I first look for duplicate cover, such as two medical cards or two accident plans. Next I see whether the medical card's plan or deductible can be adjusted. Life and critical illness sums assured come last, because they are the hardest to get back when you are older. If you truly cannot keep paying, the same PSF01 form also offers conversion to a paid-up policy or extended term cover, but the protection drops a lot, so check your policy's own rules first.
Switching from yearly to monthly, or to card auto-debit: how to change payment mode
This is the easiest change. Great Eastern's PSF01 form lists four payment frequencies: yearly, half-yearly, quarterly and monthly, and monthly is only allowed by GIRO, credit card or banker's order. If you have an e-Connect account, you can do these online:
- Change the payment method or payment frequency
- Set up auto-debit of renewal premiums from a credit or debit card
- Switch funds on an investment-linked policy (not for ex-OACM policies)
- Update the bank account used for direct credit
Not registered yet? The steps are in my Great Eastern policyholder guide. Before you move to monthly, remember the account or card must have enough every month; Great Eastern says that when an auto-debit fails, both you and your servicing agent get an SMS.
A family member pays your premium: extra paperwork?
| Who pays | Extra documents? |
|---|---|
| The proposer, the life assured or an absolute assignee | No |
| Anyone else, for example an adult child paying a parent's policy, or a company | Since 1 August 2020: the Customer Details Form for Third Party Payor plus a copy of the payer's IC (not needed when the payer is a company) |
According to Great Eastern's third party payor page, this follows Bank Negara's anti-money laundering guideline and applies to any amount paid at a Great Eastern counter, by cheque through the post, or by EasiPay auto-debit on a third party's card.
Can I change my nominee at any time, and who has to agree?
Yes. Under Schedule 10 of the Financial Services Act 2013, a policy owner aged 16 or above can nominate. The nomination must be witnessed by a person of sound mind, aged 18 or above, who is not a nominee, and it takes effect from the date the insurer registers it.
A nomination is revoked only in three ways: a written notice from you to the insurer, a later nomination, or the death of all your nominees during your lifetime. The law says plainly that a will or any other act or event does not revoke it. So marrying, divorcing or writing a will does not change the nominee on your policy: you have to submit a form.
Trust policies need the trustee's written consent
If you are not a Muslim and you nominated your spouse or child (or a parent, when you had no spouse or child at the time), the policy becomes a trust policy: the money does not form part of your estate and is not subject to your debts. The trade-off is in paragraph 5(5) of Schedule 10: without the trustee's written consent you cannot revoke the nomination, vary or surrender the policy, or assign or pledge it. If you never appointed a trustee, a nominee who is competent to contract is the trustee; for a child nominee it is the child's other parent (not you), and if there is no surviving parent, the Public Trustee or a trust company you named. Where several adult nominees act as joint trustees, all of them must agree.
Many people miss this: Great Eastern's PSF01 form ends with a consent section for the trustee, nominee or parent of the nominee. So on a trust policy, even lowering the sum assured needs the trustee's signature.
Small details on the nomination form
- One nomination form covers one policy only.
- A new nomination replaces all existing nominees; it does not add one to the list.
- The shares must add up to exactly 100%.
- Your signature must match the proposal form or your latest recorded signature; if you cannot remember it, submit a change of signature form through e-Connect first.
- Existing nominees, trustees and the policy owner, and the newly appointed nominees and trustees, cannot sign as witness.
- A Muslim policy owner's nominee receives the money as an executor, and it forms part of the estate; to let someone benefit personally, the policy has to be assigned to them.
How to choose between a trust nomination and an executor nomination, and who should be your trustee, is in my insurance nomination guide.
What usually cannot be changed, and when I would say wait
| What you want to change | What usually applies |
|---|---|
| The life assured | Only on plans whose policy terms include a change of life assured option, and only with Great Eastern's approval at its discretion |
| The policy owner | Not a simple name change: it is an absolute assignment, where the assignee becomes the new owner and you keep no further rights |
| Your name | Can be corrected with an official change of name document, but not changed to a different person |
| A loading or exclusion from when you applied | Can be reviewed only after the policy has been in force for more than one year, through underwriting |
| Premiums already paid | Not refunded when you lower the sum assured |
Some Great Eastern plans also let you appoint an alternate policy owner (your spouse, parent or child only) or a secondary life assured, subject to the policy's own conditions and approval.
A few situations where I would ask you to pause:
- Replacing the whole policy with a new plan to save money. Great Eastern's own form warns that you lose your existing cover, may pay more, may not get the same terms and may face new waiting periods and exclusions. See first whether the existing policy can be adjusted.
- Cancelling a rider while you are unwell, waiting for tests or waiting for results. You may not be able to get that cover back, or only with an exclusion.
- Relying on a verbal "it's done". Every change counts only when you have the insurer's approval letter or the new policy schedule.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your policy terms and the insurer's decision apply.
How to request a change, and how I can help
- Find your policy number and log in to e-Connect to see your current cover, nominees and payment details.
- Be clear on the goal: lower premium, more cover, a new nominee, or a mix.
- Use the right form: PSF01 for changes without a health declaration, PSF02 for more cover, the nomination form for nominees, and the PSF06A form for premium apportionment, fund switches and top-ups on investment-linked policies.
- Signatures and consent: sign as on record, and get the written consent of the trustee or conditional assignee first if the policy is held in trust or conditionally assigned.
- Submit through your servicing agent, by email (only for requests Great Eastern's page marks as email-friendly), by post to Menara Great Eastern, Level 4, No. 303 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, or at a branch.
- Check the result: when the approval letter or new policy schedule arrives, confirm the sum assured, riders, payment mode and nominees are all correct.
I am a Great Eastern agent serving Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, including Seri Kembangan, Serdang and Puchong. When you want to change a policy, I first read it together with your family's other policies, explain in Mandarin, English or Cantonese what each option gives and takes away, then help with the forms, the submission and the follow-up. If you bought the policy elsewhere, or your old agent is gone, you can still bring it to me. A free policy review is a good place to start, with no hard selling: you do not have to change or buy anything.