They say there is no such thing as a free lunch and that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But is this always the case?

When life and general insurer Allianz Malaysia Berhad (Allianz Malaysia) launched its Allianz We Care Community initiative in June, many people were sceptical.

The programme provides complimentary Covid-19 coverage and healthcare benefits not only to Allianz Malaysia’s own customers but also to non-customers with “no strings attached”, says Joseph Gross, CEO of Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd, a subsidiary of Allianz Malaysia.

“There’s no catch. Our objective is to build a community, especially in these trying times,” he tells The Edge in a recent interview.

According to him, the initiative — the first of its kind by Allianz Malaysia, provides Malaysians aged 18 and above with three types of complimentary Covid-19 coverage.

Categorised as Standard, Advanced and Premium, these coverage, which are valid from June 1 to Dec 31, include cash relief upon diagnosis of Covid-19 and hospitalisation as well as death benefits to the next of kin in the event the recipient succumbs to the viral disease.

For non-Allianz Malaysia customers, the cash aid for Covid-19 diagnosis and hospitalisation is RM1,000, while Allianz Malaysia customers can receive up to RM6,000. The death benefit, meanwhile, is set at RM8,000 and RM20,000 respectively.

To be entitled to the benefits, one only needs to sign up for the programme on Allianz Malaysia’s official website, says Gross.

“We often get asked, ‘Are there strings attached?’ or ‘Are you asking me to sign up for a policy?’ My answer is absolutely not. You can take my word for it,” says Gross.

Apart from the cash relief and death benefit, the We Care Community programme, which has been extended to Dec 31 from July 31, also provides several other medical-related services.

These services include access to a medical enquiry hotline, free general practitioner consultation, a complimentary one-hour online physiotherapy session and a general health screening with 50% discount.

In fact, except for the Covid-19 coverage, Gross says all the current benefits are valid till 31 December 2020. We will try to introduce more new services and benefits. 

“The reason for launching this initiative was the huge insecurity in society because of the pandemic. There were so many concerns and questions unanswered. On top of that, no one could really tell how long the pandemic was going to last.

“So we thought, it’s our duty to give a bit of reassurance to the community. Can I resolve the insecurity in Malaysian society? Of course not. It would be arrogant to say that. But as an insurance company, we knew we could do something about it.

“We wanted the public to know that we have their backs covered and that if anything happened to them because of Covid-19, they would get the necessary protection needed. It would at least bring the anxiety level down a little bit,” says Gross, who has been in the insurance business for 20 years.

According to a survey by data, insights and consulting firm Kantar, 55% of Malaysians were worried about financial security while 35% were concerned about their health during the second phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

The study also found that 21% of Malaysians who had no plans to purchase insurance would consider buying a policy in the near future.

It is worth noting that many countries are experiencing a resurgence of new Covid-19 cases after successfully slowing the spread of the coronavirus earlier in the year.

In Malaysia, the number of daily cases was fluctuating between double and triple digits since last week, after staying in the single to low double digits since the Recovery MCO was enforced on June 10.

In view of this, Gross says the insurer is not discounting the possibility of extending the We Care Community’s Covid-19 coverage beyond Dec 31, particularly on a case-by-case basis.

“We will look at it on a case-by-case basis. Is there a chance that we will extend it? Yes. If the numbers and the insecurity are still there, there is a very good chance that we will extend the Covid-19 coverage into next year.

“So far, we have signed up far above 100,000 [people], without major marketing. My aim is to get multiple hundreds of thousand people signed up. The more, the better, because then you will build a really strong community,” he says.

Gross adds that Allianz Malaysia is looking at expanding the list of services offered under the programme to include “concierge services” for those who are quarantined or hospitalised due to Covid-19.