You have a flat, a condo unit or a landed house, and you have either bought home insurance or assumed you are already protected. Both can go wrong in quiet ways. You only find out when you file a claim.
This guide walks through seven common mistakes, what each one can cost, and what to check instead. It is general information, not advice about your own home. By the end you will know where the gaps usually sit.
Treating HDB fire insurance as home insurance
Many HDB owners pay for fire insurance through their home loan and think the job is done. It is not. HDB fire insurance covers the building structure only. Your furniture, appliances and renovation work are not part of it.
If a fire or flood hits, the structure may be dealt with. Your sofa, TV and wardrobes are your problem.
- What it costs you: the full replacement cost of your belongings and fittings.
- What to do instead: treat the two as separate products. Read about HDB fire insurance first, then look at what home insurance adds on top.
Guessing your contents value
People pick a round number and move on. If you insure for too little, every claim can be paid less. That is true even for a small loss.
The fix takes an evening. Walk through each room and add up what it would cost to replace things new. Include clothes, electronics, kitchen items and the things in your storeroom. Most HDB households fall under S$60,000, but your own total is the one that counts.
- What it costs you: a claim paid below the real loss.
- What to do instead: write the room-by-room list down, keep it with your policy, and use the total when you compare plans.
Forgetting renovation cover as an owner
You may have spent a large sum on built-in wardrobes, flooring, a kitchen or new fittings. Those are not belongings you can carry out. They are also not covered by HDB fire insurance.
Renovation cover pays for fixtures and fittings you added. Limits differ between plans, so the figure matters.
- What it costs you: the renovation bill again, if water or fire damages the work.
- What to do instead: keep your contractor invoices, then check the renovation limit on each plan you compare.
Assuming the landlord's insurance protects a tenant
If you rent, your landlord insures the building. That is the whole of it. Your own belongings and your liability to others are not part of the landlord's policy.
A tenant's plan covers belongings and liability. A condo tenant with S$30,000 of contents may still lose a lot in a burglary or a flood.
- What it costs you: replacing your things from your own pocket.
- What to do instead: ask whether your tenancy agreement says anything about insurance, then look at tenant plans. Today's examples for a rented condo with S$30,000 of contents range from about S$44 to about S$402 across 20 insurers. See the price page. Your own price is confirmed when you press Buy Now.
Overlooking personal liability
Liability is the part nobody pictures. Someone slips in your home and is hurt. Water from your flat leaks into the unit below and damages a neighbour's ceiling. These claims can be about other people's losses, not yours.
Personal liability cover pays when you are legally responsible. Higher limits usually cost more, so the limit is worth reading.
- What it costs you: a claim from someone else that lands on you personally.
- What to do instead: check the personal liability limit and whether water damage to a neighbour is included in the plan wording.
Expecting every loss to be paid
Home insurance has exclusions, and they catch people out. Check these before you rely on a plan:
- Empty homes. Losses while the home is left empty for more than 60 days are not covered. A long trip home or an extended stay overseas can trigger this.
- Pets and pests. Damage by pets or pests is not covered. A chewed sofa or a termite problem is yours to fix.
- Wear and tear. Gradual deterioration is excluded. A tired water heater is not an insurable event.
- Business items. Business equipment and stock are not covered. If you run a small business from home, your stock sits outside the plan.
What it costs you: a declined claim at the worst moment. What to do instead: read the exclusions page of each plan before you read the benefits. If you plan a long absence, ask how the 60-day rule applies.
Choosing on premium alone
Plans on the comparison page are ranked by premium, lowest first. That is a useful start. It is not the whole picture.
For an owner-occupied HDB flat with S$60,000 of contents, today's examples run from about S$68 to about S$414 across 20 insurers. See the price page. A gap that wide is a prompt to look at what each plan includes.
- What it costs you: a cheap plan with low renovation or liability limits.
- What to do instead: line up the contents sum, renovation limit, liability limit and exclusions side by side. You can also compare two insurers directly.
What is not worth worrying about
Two things people fret over do not move the price.
- Room count. The number of rooms does not change the price at any insurer compared here.
- Which town you live in. An HDB flat costs the same to insure in every town.
Your type of home, owner or tenant status, contents value and chosen cover are what move the premium.
If you do need to make a claim, the steps are on the Claims page.
The bottom line
Most home insurance mistakes come from assuming something is covered when it is not. Check what HDB fire insurance leaves out, count your contents honestly, and read the exclusions before the benefits. Then use the home insurance page to compare plans.