In Singapore, if you decide to hire any domestic helper, based on the compulsory rules and standards set out by the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore, you need to fulfill requirements to qualify for the above aspect.
It is mandatory to purchase maid insurance to qualify for hiring any helpers in Singapore. This insurance can help provide a lot of coverage for domestic helpers. If this is the first time you are buying any maid insurance, you need to know all the details to understand what maid insurance provides. It is an absolutely mandatory requirement for employers of any domestic helper to get maid insurance. This is an insurance policy covering various areas like any accidents related to work and the charges for medical care sustained by the employer. Here are the three most essential areas specified by the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore that you should keep up with before you buy the maid insurance:
- Insurance coverage for any personal accident at work at an amount of S$60,000 per year.
- Coverage of about S$15,000 per year for hospitalization. This also covers any daycare expenses for surgery and even inpatient care.
- For any foreign domestic helper, a tight security deposit of S$5,000 in bond.
The whole insurance is meant for protecting the helper family and the helper, with a lump sum amount in case of any critical illness. This lump sum money has to be given to the helper or any of the registered beneficiaries of the helper.
Maid insurance: general policy structure
Most of the insurance companies, in general, provide an offer of either a 26-month plan or a 14-month plan. This comes with options for purchasing other add-ons. This comes with different tiers of price structures that one can choose from. Most of these plans also come with a letter of guarantee of S$5,000 in the form of a security bond, which is outlined by the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore.
What you need to look out for in maid insurance
A proper policy of maid insurance should offer repatriation expense cover, great personal liability cover, and medical expenses cover for the employer. here are some of the things you should check before signing a policy-
Medical expenses cover
Although most of the present maid insurance does provide coverage for any medical expense, many of the benefits and features are not included in the same. If you are looking for any insurance plan that provides a much larger and comprehensive package with a good range of medical features, then you should check for these features. Considering the field of medical expenses, any good maid insurance should include the following:
- Medical expenses of any outpatient for any injury and accident.
- It should also contain any surgical and hospitalization expenses till the limits pre-determined if the domestic helper suffers any illness or any injury requiring hospitalization. The surgical and hospital expenses should also provide cover for any board and room charges, the necessary cost of medical treatment, and even the cost of using the hospital services.
- The plan should cover the cost of day surgery. Some of these plans also give coverage on the post and pre-hospitalization treatment for time duration of 90 days for any illness or injury. The level of coverage and the details mostly varies based on the insurer, so make sure that you have read all the terms and conditions of the policy before purchasing the insurance.
Foreign domestic workers: dental expenses
It is essential to note that many of these insurance plans do not provide coverage for any dental treatment or inspection. So if a domestic helper under your employment ship needs any dental treatment, the policy will not cover it.
Levy and wages reimbursement
Some of the plans will give you the wages of the domestic worker while they are under hospitalization, which includes the period they are on leave if the surgical expense and hospitalization claim is paid out. This is under subject based on the max limit made on the number of days.
Repatriation expenses cover
It is a costly affair to send your domestic helper home in case of any critical illness. Any policy that covers the critical illness insurance and repatriation expenses is going to cover all the aspects regarding this area. Search for the best systems and check out the coverage for this aspect.
Personal liability cover
The cover for Personal liability will cover the benefits in case your domestic helper is acquitted of being responsible for any accidental damage or injuring someone and also an unintentional loss to someone’s property while working. This cover will also include any and every cost of legal representation and also for the claim of damage against the domestic helper.
Termination of your policy if things don’t work out
If you go through termination of the services of your maid, then, in Singapore, you will receive some of the amounts of the paid insurance back. Again if there is any cancellation between 60 days of the policy getting into action, then you are liable to get back up to 60% of the money paid. This amount is based on the minimum premium retention amount agreed upon.
So basically, this is an overview of maid insurance Singapore and what areas you should focus on before buying one.
Before signing up for a maid insurance policy
You should definitely not purchase any policy before carefully going over all the rules, regulations and conditions of the policy. You should not go ahead and sign any kind of policy that doesn’t fulfill the requirements of yours, as an employer. The procedure which is required to file for a maid insurance claim differs based on the policies, so you should ensure that you have all the documents you need to make the claim.
Different insurers opt for different process inclusion for their policies. So be sure to save all the important documents which are needed to prove authentification of the claim.
