A home insurance policy uses a set of words that rarely appear elsewhere. Some describe what the policy pays for. Others describe what it leaves out, or what happens when something goes wrong. Knowing them makes plans easier to compare.
This guide explains sixteen of those words. They appear in the order a reader tends to meet them: first when buying, then in the policy itself, and last when making a claim. Each comes with a short example from a Singapore home.
The terms matter because home insurance here sits alongside other cover. HDB owners already have fire insurance on the building. Tenants live in homes their landlords insure. Home insurance fills the gap between those policies and what a household owns. The explanations are general, and the exact wording, limits and conditions differ between plans.
1. Words you meet when comparing plans
The first words appear on a quote page, before any policy is bought. They decide what the policy costs and how much it can pay. The home insurance comparison lists plans from the lowest premium up. The purchase itself is finished on the insurer's own site.
Premium
The premium is the price of the policy. It is set by each insurer and can vary widely for the same home. Today, for an owner-occupied HDB flat with S$60,000 of contents, 20 insurers price cover from about S$68 to about S$414 (see the example). These are today's examples, not what any one household will pay.
Sum insured
The sum insured is the amount of cover chosen for a part of the policy, such as contents. The householder picks it when asking for a quote. A tenant in a rented condo might insure contents for S$30,000, while a landed homeowner might choose S$100,000.
Replacement value
The contents figure is meant to be enough to replace everything new. One way to estimate it is to walk through each room and add up what it would cost to buy each item new. Most HDB households fall under S$60,000 on this count.
Underinsurance
Underinsurance means the sum insured is lower than the true cost of replacing everything. If a home is insured for too little, every claim can be paid less, not only a large one. A flat holding S$60,000 of belongings but insured for S$30,000 is an example. How the reduction is worked out differs between plans.
2. Words about cover that already exists
Many homes in Singapore already carry some insurance before the occupant buys anything. These two terms explain where that cover stops.
HDB fire insurance
HDB fire insurance covers the building structure of an HDB flat only. It does not cover belongings or renovations. A new kitchen cabinet or a built-in wardrobe sits outside it. Contents and renovations need home insurance.
Landlord's building cover
For tenants, the landlord insures the building. That cover is about the structure, not the tenant's own things. Home insurance covers the tenant's belongings and the tenant's liability to others. A tenant in an HDB flat, a condo or a landed house is in the same position.
3. Words for what the policy covers
This part of the policy sets out what the insurer agrees to pay for. Five terms do most of the work.
Contents
Contents are the belongings inside the home. Furniture, clothes, a television and kitchen appliances are typical examples. The policy protects them against the events described next.
Insured events
These are the events the policy pays for. For the plans compared on this site, they include fire, flood, burglary and accidental damage. A break-in while the family is out at a hawker centre for dinner is one example. A television knocked off its stand is another.
Renovations, fixtures and fittings
Renovation cover pays for fixtures and fittings the occupant paid to add. In a resale HDB flat this might mean new flooring, a false ceiling or built-in carpentry. HDB fire insurance does not cover these. The amount of renovation cover differs between plans.
Personal liability
Personal liability covers the policyholder's legal liability if someone is hurt in the home. A guest who slips on a wet floor during a Chinese New Year visit is an example. It also pays if water from the flat damages a neighbour's, such as a leak seeping into the unit below.
Alternative accommodation
Some damage leaves a home unfit to live in for a time. Alternative accommodation cover helps pay for somewhere to stay while that is the case. After a serious kitchen fire, a family might need a short-term rental nearby. How long and how much a plan pays differs between plans.
4. Words for what the policy leaves out
Exclusions are losses a policy will not pay for. Some look close to a covered event, which is why they cause confusion at claim time. Four are common to the plans compared here.
Wear and tear
Wear and tear is the decline that comes with age and use. Gradual deterioration is a related idea: damage that builds up slowly over time. A sofa worn thin after years of use falls into this group. So does a cabinet slowly warped by a seeping pipe.
Unoccupied home
Losses are not covered while the home is left empty for more than 60 days. This matters for an owner on a long overseas posting. It also matters for a family away for an extended stay with relatives. How a plan counts those days is a point to check in the wording.
Pets and pests
Damage by pets or pests is excluded. A cat that shreds a rattan chair is one example. Termites in a timber door frame are another.
Business equipment and stock
Business equipment and stock are excluded. Someone who runs a home-based bakery, or sells goods online from a spare room, keeps items the policy does not cover. The ovens and stock bought for that business sit outside contents cover.
5. Words you meet when you claim
The last terms appear when something has gone wrong. They shape both the payout and future prices.
Claim
A claim is a request to the insurer to pay for a covered loss. It generally needs evidence of what happened and what was lost, such as photographs and receipts. After a burglary, a police report is typically part of that evidence. The steps are set out on the Claims page.
Claims history
Claims history is the record of past claims on a home policy. The typical prices on this site assume no claims in the past three years. A different history may change the price a plan quotes.
In summary
Three things matter most when reading a home policy. The contents sum insured is meant to cover replacing everything new, and insuring for too little can reduce every claim. HDB fire insurance and a landlord's cover protect the building only, so contents, renovations and liability sit with home insurance. And the exclusions, from wear and tear to a home left empty for more than 60 days, shape what any plan will pay. Plans and today's prices can be compared on the home insurance page.