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Maid insurance is not an insurance topic that is frequently discussed in Singapore. This may come as a surprise, particularly when you consider that there are about 250,000 maids, also known as foreign domestic workers (FDWs), in Singapore as of 2018.
In order to upkeep the economic growth seen in Singapore, many FDWs play an important role in the family, helping to care for young ones, elderly parents and maintain household cleanliness on behalf of their employers.
It’s compulsory for every employer to purchase medical insurance and personal accident insurance for their maid. The minimum requirements, as stipulated by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), are as follows;
- Medical insurance with a coverage of at least $15,000 per year for inpatient care and day surgery during your helper’s stay in Singapore
- Personal accident insurance of at least $60,000 per year to cover sudden, unforeseen and unexpected incidents resulting in permanent disability or death.
Due to the mandatory requirements stipulated by MOM, all maid insurance policies offered in Singapore will provide the minimum basic requirements needed.
In fact, many Singapore households who employ a maid may not even know that they can choose various types of maid insurance policies across different insurers, and may due to convenience, simply rely on the arrangement provided to them by the maid agency.
However by choosing your own policy, you ensure that the coverage that you purchase for your maid would be the ideal coverage that you want. At the same time, you can compare various quotations provided by different insurers and enjoy potential cost savings.
Comparing Different Maid Insurance Policies
Over at , we are currently able to compare a total of 13 different maid insurance plans across 6 different insurers. Based on our evaluation of the different plans, here are some notables areas that you should consider when choosing the plan that would best your requirements.
Personal Accident Coverage: While most policies will provide the basic requirements of $60,000 for personal accident coverage, the schedule of compensation may sometimes differ for different plans.
Medical Insurance Coverage: While the minimum requirement for medical insurance coverage is $15,000, there are some plans that will go beyond the minimum requirement needed. For example, the EQ Maid Enhanced (with Security Bond) provides medical expense coverage for hospitalisation and surgical expenses of up to $30,000 per annum.
Outpatient Expenses: Outpatient expenses also differ between various types of insurance policies. Some may go up to as high as $3,000 per annum while others may be limited to just $1,000 per annum.
Third Party Liability: Third party liability indemnifies the insured against the liability to pay compensation in the event the insured maid in involved in incidents in the course of her employment for which made and employer can be held liable.
Critical Illness Coverage: Some plans may also provide a small critical illness coverage.
Repatriation Expenses: Some plans may cover the cost of repatriation that you incur, should the need arise.
How Much Do Maid Insurance Premiums Cost?
Since most maid work permit contracts are either for 12-month or 24-month, and there is a MOM requirement for all insurance and bonds to have an additional two months of coverage, hence maid insurance policies have a coverage period of either 14 or 26 months.
Based on current premiums in 2019 quoted by the various insurers in Singapore, you can expect to pay between $180 to $200 for a 14-month insurance term policy, and between $246 and $374 for a 26-month insurance term policy.
It’s normal to think that the more expensive the maid insurance policy is, the better the coverage must be. Not always.
In order to help you decide which policy is worth paying for, Insurance Market reviews the various key components offered in a maid insurance policy and scores them accordingly based on the coverage provided by each policy. This is how we rate each and every policy available.
Insurance Market also compares the value for money score offered by each plan. We call that the value for Money Score. This score tells you which policy provide the best coverage in relation to the premiums that you are paying.
If you are interested to see which are the best plans available based on your budget, you can check out our to determine if you are getting the best bang for your buck.
Read Also: Maid Insurance Renewal: Do It On Time.
