Why Buy Home Insurance On Top Of HDB Fire Insurance (2024)

In a country like Singapore, where there are minimal risks from natural disasters, I suppose taking basic measures for protection against fire to safeguard against losses at home seems like the next best thing.

How frequently do fires happen in Singapore? According to SCDF, the overall number of fires was 1954 cases in 2023, 970 of which happened in residential buildings.

I did a little homework to learn more about purchasing fire insurance for HDB owners and how much it would cost.

The HDB Fire Insurance Scheme helps relieve flat owners of the financial burden of repair work in the unfortunate event of a fire.

Flat owners with HDB loans commencing on or after 1 September 1994 must buy and renew HDB fire insurance every five years as long as their loan is outstanding.

HDB Fire Insurance policies bought after 15 August 2019 are insured by FWD.

HDB fire insurance covers the cost of reinstating damaged internal structures and fixtures, as well as areas built and provided by HDB.

However, it does not include home contents such as furniture, renovations and personal belongings.

From 16 August 2019 to 15 August 2024, the 5-year premiums are as follows:

Given that the number of residential fires in Singapore (970) is relatively low versus the number of HDB apartments in Singapore, you can understand why flat owners with HDB loans only need to pay a tiny amount of money for the 5-year premium.

To check the current status of your HDB fire insurance, you can log into HDB’s website and check your status.

If you were to ask me, the optional home insurance isn’t really optional.

Getting home insurance is meant to protect my home and my belongings from fire, theft, and other damages, in addition to what HDB Fire Insurance provides.

Home insurers offer many different types of coverage, but they typically include:

Household items e.g. electrical appliancesPersonal belongingsRenovationsCost of alternative accommodationRemoval of debris, repair costsPersonal liability cover against damages to neighbours’ property

Just like how we would buy medical insurance to provide financial support in the event of unforeseen emergencies, home insurance similarly provides financial support in case of unexpected home damages.

Thinking back to when I renovated my apartment and all the subsequent items I purchased for my home, the total value would be easily estimated at around $60,000 even when I didn’t spend an exorbitant amount of money on furnishing.

How To Quantify The Value Of Renovations And Personal Contents?

For insurance-related matters, everything related to claims depends entirely on documentation.

Just like I was required to furnish receipts, invoices, and a doctor’s memo when I claimed travel insurance for a hospital visit, you will need to start documenting the value of your home content.

Simply take photos of all the receipts and invoices you can find and store them in cloud storage for easy retrieval when the need arises.

Yes! As mentioned earlier, the compulsory HDB fire insurance covers only the internal building structure, fixtures, and fittings based on the original HDB flat standards when handed over.

We can purchase home insurance to cover our personal contents and any additional renovations or improvements we have made to our home.

One thing to be mindful of is that coverage for loss is proportionate, and ideally, we want to avoid underinsurance (click on to learn more).

Assuming we understand the concept of underinsurance, or perhaps it doesn’t really cost that much to restore our homes to the condition it was in before the fire, how much would a basic coverage cost?

To give an example, I will use Income Home Insurance for an average 4-room HDB apartment with the following coverage, which is the bare minimum:

Renovation Coverage: $40,000Home Contents Coverage: $20,000

For a 3-year plan with an ongoing promotion, the total premium is only $107.91 for 3 years or $36 annually.

Insurance in any form is probably the one thing we spend on that I don’t want to end up utilizing its underlying benefit.

Many people probably don’t spend on insurance, and that’s their personal choice considering their financial situation.

Even though we can be extremely careful and mindful when it comes to fire safety, what happens when an errant neighbour’s defective personal mobility device (PMD) catches fire while being charged at home?

We will never be able to control others’ actions, which is why I feel that spending even $3 per month on enhanced peace of mind is not too much to ask.

I don’t really have a preferred insurer that I go to for home insurance since I haven’t made any claims and don’t ever want to have the chance to do so.

It was simply habitual that I went with Income Insurance (not an affiliate link) since I had pleasant experiences claiming with them for travel insurance on two occasions:

If you are not sure where to start, the General Insurance Association (Singapore) directory has a huge list of insurers that you can choose from.

HDB Fire InsuranceSCDF Annual StatisticsGeneral Insurance Association (Singapore)