Shangri-La launches complimentary “StaySurance” staycation insurance

Shangri-La has launched an interesting new feature called StaySurance, which is basically staycation insurance. This will be offered free-of-charge to all guests staying at Shangri-La properties in Singapore up till 31 December 2021. 

Escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and rejuvenate at Shangri-La, knowing that in extraordinary times like today, we are going the extra mile to cover you and your loved ones if the unexpected happens during one’s staycation.

To help guests enjoy their domestic holidays with greater peace of mind, Shangri-La will provide local residents the newly introduced AIG StaySurance Personal Accident Cover, at no additional charge.

-Shangri-La

What is StaySurance?

StaySurance is a personal accident coverage plan underwritten by AIG with up to US$50,000 coverage. It will be automatically activated for any local guest (including work/residential pass holders) staying at the four Shangri-La hotels in Singapore from 16 July to 31 December 2021:

• Shangri-La Singapore
• Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa
• JEN Singapore Orchardgateway
• JEN Singapore Tanglin

Coverage applies regardless of whether the hotel is booked directly or through a third party OTA. It also applies to redemption bookings made with Golden Circle points.

Guests are covered from 6 a.m or check-in time, whichever is earlier on the day of arrival, up till 6 p.m or check-out time, whichever is later on the day of departure. It also doesn’t matter whether they’re in or outside the hotel at the time of the incident. 

Here’s the covered events and limits:

How useful is this policy?

While this is a nice little gesture by Shangri-La, I imagine the vast majority of staycation guests would already have personal accident insurance of their own (and if you don’t, you might want to sort that out first before taking a staycation). 

It’s true that the coverage does stack (except ambulance and medical reimbursement cover), but what I’d really like to see is some kind of insurance cover for staycation cancellations- perhaps you or a family member fall sick just before a non-refundable staycation. If the idea is to encourage people to stay home when ill, that’s the sort of thing that would really help. 

Also note that in order to claim the daily hospital income due to specified infectious disease, you’d need to be diagnosed during the time of cover, i.e. during your staycation. My guess is that if you’re already suffering the symptoms of dengue or HFMD, you’d probably not be in any state to take a staycation in the first place. 

So I only see the policy coming in handy if you met with an accident on the way to the hotel, or slipped and fell in the pool area, or visited a KTV lounge recently and thought your Shangri-La staycation might be a good opportunity to confess to your spouse. 

Incidentally, the policy does not cover any sort of illness except the handful of specified infectious diseases (including COVID-19), so you wouldn’t be able to make a claim for food poisoning. 

Conclusion

Full marks to Shangri-La for trying something innovative, although I have my doubts as to how useful it’ll be in practice. No doubt the actuaries have done their sums and concluded that staycation-related mishaps are few and far between; hence the ability to offer this coverage at no additional cost. 

But since it’s free and requires no effort from your side, why not?