You have found a helper and the agency is moving the paperwork along. Now someone wants proof of insurance before the work permit can be issued. Most maid insurance plans look alike at first. The differences show up later, usually when a hospital bill arrives.
This checklist is for employers buying cover for a new helper, or renewing for one who is staying on. It groups about a dozen 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 the medical and accident cover
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) sets a minimum for every employer of a foreign domestic worker. Every plan on our comparison meets that minimum. The differences sit above it. You also cannot pass the cost of this cover on to your helper.
- The hospital and surgical limit. Look at the yearly limit for hospital stays and day surgery. MOM's minimum is S$60,000 a year. Limits differ between plans. A higher limit means fewer bills for you if your helper has a long hospital stay. A reasonable plan states its limit clearly and meets or goes above the minimum.
- Your share of a large bill. On a bill above S$15,000, the insurer pays 75% and you pay 25%. That split comes from the MOM rules. Check how the policy wording describes your share, so a big bill does not catch you off guard. A reasonable plan explains this in plain terms.
- Personal accident cover. This pays S$60,000 to your helper, or to her family, if an accident leaves her permanently disabled or she dies. MOM requires at least this amount. Check that the figure on the policy schedule matches.
- Repatriation. This covers sending your helper home if she passes away or must return home. It matters because arranging this at short notice is costly and stressful. A reasonable plan names it in its list of benefits.
What to do: pick two plans and put their hospital limits side by side on the compare page.
Check the security bond and the waiver
MOM requires a S$5,000 security bond for each helper, unless she is Malaysian. MOM can take the bond if you break the work permit conditions. Examples include paying her salary late or not sending her home when her permit ends. Every plan we show includes the bond, and the insurer sends it to MOM for you.
- The bond is included. Check that the plan you pick lists the S$5,000 security bond. If your helper is Malaysian, the bond does not apply to her. A reasonable plan makes clear whether the bond is part of the price you see.
- The bond waiver, with or without. This is the one real choice in most plans, so weigh both sides.
- With a waiver: if MOM forfeits the bond, the insurer pays it and usually cannot ask you to repay it. This covers cases such as your helper going missing.
- Without a waiver: the premium differs, but the insurer can ask you to repay the S$5,000 if MOM forfeits the bond.
- What the waiver adds to the premium. Compare the same cover with and without a waiver before you decide. Our price pages split this out, for example 26 months with a waiver, helper under 50 against 26 months with no waiver, helper under 50.
What to do: decide whether you could pay S$5,000 out of pocket. Then check the waiver price on both price pages.
Check the dates, the length and your helper's details
Getting the dates wrong is a quiet, expensive mistake. The insurance and the bond need to line up with the work permit, not just with the day your helper lands at Changi.
- The start date. MOM requires the cover and the bond to be in place before the work permit is issued, and before your helper arrives in Singapore. Cover should start before she starts work. A reasonable plan lets you set the start date to match.
- 14 or 26 months. Work permits run for one or two years. The extra two months cover the time between applying and the permit being issued. If your insurance and bond last less than 26 months, the permit ends two months before they do. That is why new helpers are usually covered for 26 months, and one-year renewals for 14 months.
- Your helper's age. Prices differ by age. Our price pages split helpers into under 50 and over 50, such as 14 months with a waiver, helper over 50. Enter her real age in the quote form, as given on her documents.
For a sense of the spread, here are today's examples, 26 October 2026. For a new helper aged 32, covered for 26 months with a bond waiver, 14 insurers quote from about S$448 to about S$1,340 on this price page. For a 14-month renewal with no waiver, helper aged 38, 11 insurers quote from about S$280 to about S$792 on the renewal page. These are examples. Your own quote depends on your helper and the cover you pick.
What to do: check the work permit dates first, then choose 14 or 26 months to match.
Check what the plan leaves out
Exclusions are where surprises live. Read them before you pay, not after a claim is turned down.
- Conditions found at the pre-employment medical exam. These are not covered. Keep a copy of the exam results so you know what was found. A reasonable plan states this exclusion plainly.
- Pregnancy and childbirth. These are not covered. Check the wording so you know where the line sits.
- Cosmetic and routine dental treatment. Not covered. Routine dental visits, like a scale and polish, will be your own cost if you choose to pay for them.
- Self-inflicted injury. Not covered. Check how the plan words this exclusion.
What to do: read the exclusions page of the policy wording for each plan on your shortlist. If a claim does come up, our claims page explains how the process generally works.
What is not worth worrying about
Some things take care of themselves, so you can spend your time on the checks above.
- Whether the plan meets the MOM minimum. Every plan we show meets MOM's minimum medical and personal accident cover. You still compare what sits above it.
- Sending the bond paperwork. When you pick a plan, you finish buying on the insurer's own site with your answers already filled in. The insurer sends the bond to MOM.
- Re-typing your details. Your answers carry over to the insurer's site. Check them once more before you pay.
What to do: before checkout, look for any promo codes running now. Then start a quote on the maid insurance page.
The bottom line
Every plan here clears the MOM minimum, so the real choices are the hospital limit, the bond waiver and the dates. Read the exclusions, match the cover length to the work permit, and compare premiums for the same cover. Then you are comparing like with like.