MAS has launched a web portal - CompareFIRST to compare insurance products and to buy them directly. A few bloggers were talking about another similar portal DIY Insurance. While I agree with the merits of what the portals can offer, I'll also like to share my contrary thoughts. The online portal gives me the impression that all insurance products will be listed but is this this really the case? In my past dealings with insurance agents, I asked why I should engage them if a Independent Financial Agents (IFA) who are not limited to one company can offer me more choices? They say that certain products are not offered to IFAs and are offered only by the insurer. I also asked a IFA back then and he seem to agree with that statement. I cannot be certain but I too suspect that the respective insurer is keeping their 'best' product(s) to themselves. I take it as a sort of trump card. Coming back to this portal, is it mandatory for the insurer to reveal all their products or are they putting selected products on the portal and leaving the trump cards for their agents? I hear that some insurers actually carve out specific policies for the portal. Again I may be wrong, but it makes sense because MAS is encouraging people to use the portal and if the insurers want to remain competitive, they will have to make changes to their existing products. That may mean that I will have more products to analyze. In the past, I will just talk to a few agents from different insurers and a IFA to do a comparison. Now I have to include the portal, to 1) compare and validate what the agents say and 2) check if there are any products that is offered only by the portal. The general consensus is that if you are clueless about insurance, it will be better to talk to a professional. The portal is for those who understands about their own insurance needs. However, I find this to be very subjective. I 'think' I know enough about insurance but I am sometimes stumped by the lengthy and complicated terms and conditions. My practice is to ask the agent to highlight the important points, after which I will clarify my doubts with the agent. I'm concerned that online buyers will 'think' that they understand terms and conditions fully and when they realized that they may have misinterpreted certain clause, it might be too late. Take for example a traditional critical illness plan. My initial perception is that if I've cancer, I can make a claim. However, I did not know that the cancer has to be in the advance stage. Treatment during the early stages will not be covered. Fortunately an agent pointed this out to me else I would have miss this important clause. While I am savvy enough to manage my insurance, I'm concerned that my dependents may find it a challenge to file a claim on my behalf. My parents are my dependents and even though they know a bit of English and have a summary of my policies, they may find it a challenge to juggle between grief and filing for claims. That's when having a trust worthy and reliable agent is important. I am fortunate that my agent is willing to handle policies that is not from her company and should anything happen to me, my parents can just contact her and she will handle the rest. I hope I do not sound as if I am against buying policies online. I just want to point out that insurance planning is not just about comparing and buying the cheapest policies, and although there are stories of "unscrupulous" agents, there are also merits in buying from them. I think people my age group and older will already have a insurance plan and will not benefit much from the portal, but for the younger readers who have yet to insure yourself, will you consider buying all your insurance policies online?