You have a list of home insurance plans sorted by premium. The numbers are easy to compare. The cover behind them is not.
This checklist is for HDB owners, condo tenants and anyone else about to buy home insurance in Singapore. By the end, you will have a set of checks under four headings. For each one, you will know what to look at, why it matters and what a reasonable plan looks like.
Check your contents sum first
The contents sum is the figure you pick when you get a quote. It drives the premium and caps what you can claim. If you get it wrong, the other checks matter less.
- Your replacement total. Walk through each room and add up what it would cost to replace things new. Use today's prices, not what you paid years ago. Include the sofa, beds, fridge, TV, clothes and the rice cooker. Most HDB households fall under S$60,000. A reasonable figure is your own total, matched to the nearest band on offer.
- The cost of insuring too little. If your contents sum is too low, every claim can be paid less, not just the big ones. That is why the walk-through matters. Find the clause on underinsurance in each plan's wording.
- Work gear and home business stock. Business equipment and stock are excluded. This matters if you sell things online from your flat or keep work tools at home. Those items sit outside contents cover. Leave them out of your total, and check how the wording defines business equipment.
Do the walk-through before you open the home insurance quote page. It takes an evening and saves guesswork.
Check the cover for the home itself
What you need depends on whether you own or rent, and on what you have built in.
- Owner or tenant. HDB fire insurance covers the building structure only. It does not cover your belongings or renovations. If you rent, your landlord insures the building. Your home insurance covers your own things and your liability to others. The price pages split owners and tenants, for example HDB flat, tenant, S$30,000 contents. Make sure you are quoting as the right one.
- Renovation cover. This pays for fixtures and fittings you added and paid for. Think built-in wardrobes, kitchen cabinets and flooring. HDB fire insurance does not cover these. If you renovated after collecting your keys, check the renovation limit against what you spent. Limits differ between plans.
- The events covered. Home insurance covers your belongings against fire, flood, burglary and accidental damage. Check that each event is listed in the plan you are looking at. Read how accidental damage is defined, as wording varies. A reasonable plan names all four.
- Somewhere to stay. A fire or flood can leave your home unliveable. Cover can then pay for somewhere else to stay. Check how long it lasts and how much it pays. Both differ between plans.
List your renovation items and what you paid for them. Then hold each plan's renovation limit up against that list.
Check liability and the exclusions
This is where quotes look alike on the surface and differ in the wording.
- Personal liability. This pays if someone is hurt in your home. It also pays if water from your flat damages a neighbour's. In an HDB block or condo tower, a burst pipe or overflowing washing machine can travel downstairs. A reasonable plan includes liability. Check the limit on the comparison page.
- Wear and tear. Wear and tear and gradual deterioration are excluded. A slow leak under the sink that rots the cabinet over months is the classic case. Home insurance is for sudden events, not maintenance. See how each plan words this exclusion.
- Leaving the home empty. Losses while the home is left empty for more than 60 days are excluded. This matters if you take a long overseas posting or a long stay with family abroad. It also matters if you move out before a sale completes. If any of that sounds like your year, read this clause first.
- Pets and pests. Damage by pets or pests is excluded. A cat that shreds the sofa is not covered. Neither are termites in the door frame. If you have a pet or an older wooden fit-out, note that these risks sit outside the policy.
Read the exclusions section of the policy wording before you pay. It is much less pleasant to read it for the first time after a loss.
Check the price and what sits behind it
Plans on this site are listed from the lowest premium up. That makes price easy to see. It also means checking the cover is your job.
- A like-for-like comparison. Compare plans at the same contents sum and the same home type. Today, 20 insurers price an HDB owner with S$60,000 contents, from about S$68 to about S$414. For a condo tenant with S$30,000 contents, 20 insurers price it from about S$44 to about S$402. For a landed owner with S$100,000 contents, 19 insurers price it from about S$121 to about S$643. These are today's examples, not what you will pay. A spread that wide is a reason to look at what each plan includes.
- What the example price assumes. Each typical-price page assumes a profile, such as no claims in 3 years. If your situation differs, your quote can differ too. Check the listed assumptions against your own home and history.
- How claims work. You buy on the insurer's own site, and you claim with the insurer. Before you buy, check what a claim needs, such as receipts and photos of what you own. The Claims page sets out how the process generally works.
Pick two or three plans near your budget at the same contents sum. Read their wording side by side before you choose one.
What's not worth worrying about
- An exact contents figure. You need a sound estimate from a room-by-room walk-through. You do not need an audit to the last dollar. Quotes here work in bands.
- The building structure, if you own an HDB flat. HDB fire insurance covers the structure. Home insurance sits on top for contents and renovations.
- The building, if you rent. That is your landlord's to insure. Your part is your own things and your liability.
- Filling in forms twice. When you pick a plan, you finish buying on the insurer's site with your answers already filled in.
The bottom line
Home insurance comes down to a few figures and a page of exclusions. Check your contents sum, your renovation and liability cover, and what the plan leaves out. Then compare plans for your home at the same contents sum and look past the premium.