Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2025-06-13
Disclaimer: This article is translated with the assistance of AI.
Bowtie’s innovative Early Stage and Multiple Critical Illness Insurance has taken the market by storm, quickly earning the top spot in the regular CI category from independent platform 10Life. Discover how Bowtie identified gaps in existing CI products and transformed them into a standout solution.
Why Do All Agents Push Savings Critical Illness Insurance?
“I started by acting as a Mystery Shopper. I met over a dozen agents and discovered that every one of them recommended savings-type critical illness insurance to me. Higher commissions are likely a big factor, but to be fair, savings-type critical illness insurance does provide broader coverage.” Mingo, who holds an EMBA degree and was previously a sales department head in the telecommunications industry, reflects on his early days as the person in charge of Term CI.
“Many savings-type critical illness insurance policies offer multiple claims and cover early-stage critical illnesses, whereas Term CI, while lacking a savings component, has relatively straightforward coverage. So, if a customer wants more extensive protection, opting for savings-type critical illness insurance makes sense.” After understanding the differences between these two products, Mingo got the idea to significantly enhance the coverage of Term CI, giving consumers another solid choice.
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After Researching 40+ Products, Mingo Uncover 3 Key Pitfalls
Mingo reveals that for this product development, he first reviewed over 40 critical illness insurance policies on the market to understand their terms and conditions. During his review of similar products, Mingo uncovered several tricky pitfalls:
- For early-stage critical illness coverage, some policies only “advance” a percentage of the sum assured (for example, 20%) as compensation, meaning that if you later need to claim for a severe critical illness, you’d get at most the remaining 80% of the sum assured. Since the main purpose of critical illness insurance is to cover lost income from being unable to work due to illness, this 80% payout could leave you underprotected.
- One company’s Term CI claims to cover “angioplasty,” but only for procedures on the carotid artery. As critical illness insurance payouts are based on definitions, narrower definitions ultimately work against consumers.
- Another company’s Term CI boasts “unlimited” multiple critical illness claims, yet it excludes common scenarios like cancer recurrence or subsequent diagnoses of heart disease or stroke.
Affordable High-End Protection
Mingo also interviewed over 30 Bowtie users to learn about their expectations for the product and how much extra they’d be willing to pay for enhanced coverage. In these interviews, most people were open to paying an additional 10% to 15% in premiums to extend coverage to common early-stage critical illnesses, such as carcinoma in situ or angioplasty.
After listening to user feedback, the Bowtie team worked hard to balance protection and premiums, launching the new Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover. Mingo describes this plan as “high-end protection at a price that’s affordable for the masses.” In fact, this product design embodies Bowtie’s Just Fit philosophy—just the right coverage you truly need, without flashy gimmicks, so users don’t pay for unnecessary extras and can get “properly protected.”
3 Key Selling Points
To earn industry recognition, Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover fills in the gaps in several ways, and Mingo shares its 3 key selling points:
1. Comprehensive Coverage for Early-Stage and Severe Critical Illnesses
Early-stage critical illnesses are conditions that haven’t yet progressed to severe stages. Treating them early can greatly reduce the risk of them becoming severe. Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover covers the following 4 most common early-stage critical illnesses, including carcinoma in situ, early malignant tumors, and medical conditions requiring angioplasty.
For severe critical illnesses, Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover covers 42 types, including the 37 listed by the Life Insurance Association Singapore, protecting against 98% of common critical illness cases 2 .
2. Multiple Claims for Early-Stage and Severe Critical Illnesses—Up to 5 Times Each
With advancements in medical technology, many patients with early-stage or severe critical illnesses can recover, but sadly, this doesn’t eliminate the risk of recurrence or developing other illnesses. For instance, liver cancer has a recurrence rate as high as 61.5% 3 .
That’s why Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover offers multiple claims 4,5 , covering recurrences or subsequent diagnoses of the three major critical illnesses (cancer, heart disease, and stroke), as well as the 4 early-stage critical illnesses like carcinoma in situ and angioplasty, and other specified severe critical illnesses—all within its multiple claims 4,5 framework.
Early-stage and severe critical illnesses can each be claimed up to 5 times, with total payouts reaching up to 600% of the sum assured.
3. Full Payouts of 120% for Early-Stage and Severe Critical Illnesses
Imagine if you’re diagnosed with carcinoma in situ and receive 20% of the sum assured to cover your expenses, allowing you to recover successfully. But years later, you’re diagnosed with full-blown cancer—if you only get the remaining 80% of the sum assured, it might not be enough for your living costs and other expenses.
Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover provides extra payouts for early-stage critical illnesses. For example, if the insured is first diagnosed with an early-stage critical illness and then, after the 2-year waiting period, with a severe critical illness , they can receive 20% 4 of the sum assured for the early stage and 100% 5 for the severe one, totaling 120% of the sum assured. Even if the severe critical illness occurs within the 2-year waiting period, we’ll still pay out 80% of the sum assured.
| Typical Term CI Products | Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover | |
| First Diagnosis: Early-Stage Critical Illness | 20% of Sum Assured | 20% of Sum Assured 4 |
| Second Diagnosis: Severe Critical Illness | 80% of Sum Assured | 100% of Sum Assured 5 |
Another piece of good news: Bowtie has removed the survival period requirement for all critical illness plans!
Regardless of which Bowtie critical illness plan you choose, Bowtie has removed the survival period requirement from the exclusions, giving you more comprehensive coverage. The updated terms for critical illness coverage, definitions, and survival periods for the existing “Bowtie Term CI” and “Bowtie Term CI Multiple Cover” will take effect in February 2024, and we will notify existing policyholders of the details.
- 1 Data source: 10Life Insurance Comparison Platform, “Bowtie Term CI Early Stage and Multiple Cover” won the 5-star Term Critical Illness Insurance Award in 2023 and ranked first in the term critical illness category (as of December 21, 2023).
- 2 According to a survey on major diseases conducted by a certain reinsurance company in the Asia region from 2008-2012, cancer, coronary artery bypass surgery, heart disease, other serious coronary artery diseases, stroke, benign brain tumors, and renal failure account for approximately 97% of critical illness insurance claims among Hong Kong women. The remaining data is collected by Bowtie from various public sources and derived through mathematical calculations, for general educational and reference purposes only.
- 3 Hong Kong Baptist University School of Chinese Medicine. 2016. “Advantages of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Middle and Late Stage Liver Cancer”.
- 4 For early critical illness coverage, the maximum limit per claim per insured person is HK$300,000, and there is a waiting period for early critical illness coverage, as well as a claim limit for each covered early critical illness. Please refer to the policy terms and conditions, and exclusions.
- 5 For claims under multiple critical illness coverage, additional requirements must be met. Please refer to the policy terms and conditions, and exclusions.
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