Home Insurance in Singapore: Fire vs Contents vs Building Cover, and 2026 Premiums Compared

The short answer

Home insurance in Singapore pays for the parts of your home that the compulsory schemes leave out: renovation, furniture, appliances, belongings and your liability if a fire or leak from your unit damages a neighbour’s home. HDB fire insurance only rebuilds the flat’s structure and the fittings HDB put in, and a condo’s MCST policy only insures the building and common areas. We checked every premium and limit below on 18 October 2026. We are not an insurer or financial adviser, so check the policy wording before you buy anything.

Want a figure for your own home? Our home insurance calculator gives a sum insured and a premium range from the same data.

Fire insurance vs home contents vs building cover

Fire insurance, contents cover and building cover are three separate things, and most owners need two of them.

Etiqa, HDB’s appointed fire insurer, prices a 4-room policy at S$4.59 for 5 years with GST, for a sum insured of S$117,000. It excludes household contents, renovation and personal belongings. Our HDB fire insurance guide has the full table.

Income’s definitions show where the lines fall. Building cover means the structure, excluding foundations, and fixtures built to HDB or developer standard. Renovations such as flooring, built-in wardrobes and kitchen cabinets sit outside building cover, which is why contents plans quote a separate renovation limit.

What HDB, condo and landed owners each need

The type of home decides your starting point.

HDB flats. The fire policy already rebuilds the shell, so most HDB owners buy contents and renovation cover plus liability. Income notes that HDB fire insurance doesn’t cover external structures or damage to neighbouring units.

Condos. The MCST insures the building and common property such as corridors, car parks, lift lobbies and pools. Income’s June 2026 guide for condo owners says the master policy does not protect interior renovation, furniture, appliances or personal liability inside your unit. Ask your managing agent for the MCST policy schedule, then insure what it leaves out.

Landed homes. No MCST and no HDB policy stand behind you, so landed owners insure the building as well. Tiq offers building sums from S$300,000 to S$2,000,000 for condo and landed homes, and FWD from S$200,000 to S$1,000,000 for landed. Chubb’s Masterpiece is aimed at higher-value homes, with a minimum premium of S$1,000 before GST.

Home insurance plans compared

These are published one-year prices. Most come from MoneySmart’s listings, shown before MoneySmart’s own discounts, because most insurers only quote through an online form. GST treatment follows the source: AIG’s and Income’s figures include GST, Tiq’s exclude it, and the rest don’t say.

HL Assurance sells Home ProtectLite, with S$50,000 for contents and renovation combined, but publishes no premium. Discount codes on MoneySmart cut most of these by 20% to 40% in October 2026, and multi-year terms cut the yearly cost again: AIG advertised S$35.76 a year on a 5-year Homes Essential plan for HDB owners. The cheapest home insurance on paper is not always the one with the right limits, so compare the renovation figure against what you spent.

How to pick a sum insured

Insure contents and renovation at what it would cost to replace them today. Being under-insured is the expensive mistake. MSIG explains that under an average clause, if your sum insured is below the replacement cost, you bear a share of any loss in proportion to the shortfall. A first-loss policy pays claims in full up to the sum insured, but never more.

Work it out in three steps:

1. Renovation: Start from your renovation quotation or invoice, then add anything built in since. Tiq lets HDB owners pick S$20,000 to S$180,000.
2. Contents: List each room’s furniture, appliances and electronics at today’s price. ShopBack’s August 2026 guide suggests S$30,000 to S$70,000 for a typical 4-room flat and S$80,000 to S$200,000 for a condo.
3. Liability: Plans in the table include S$400,000 to S$1,000,000. ShopBack suggests at least S$500,000, and S$1m if you have a helper or many visitors.

Income’s brochure gives a priced example. A 4-room HDB owner with full building cover, S$60,000 renovation and S$30,000 contents paid S$195.71 with GST for a 3-year plan, after a 15% discount. Our home insurance calculator runs the same steps for your flat type.

Tenants vs landlords

Tenants insure their own belongings and liability. They don’t insure the building or the landlord’s renovation. MSIG’s HomeEasy tenant plans cover S$30,000 or S$80,000 of contents and no renovation, and Tiq’s tenant plan covers S$15,000 to S$120,000 of contents with no building or renovation section. AIG sells tenant’s liability of up to S$100,000 as an add-on for S$54.50.

Landlords need a homeowner or landlord version of the policy, because the home is no longer owner-occupied. FWD’s Rent Protector pays lost rent if the tenant misses at least three months in a row, and MSIG, Income and Singlife pay loss of rent after an insured event such as a fire. Our landlord insurance guide compares them, and the whole-flat rental rules cover HDB approval.

If you are buying with a loan, protecting the loan itself is a separate job: see the Home Protection Scheme for HDB flats and mortgage insurance for private homes.

All prices on this page were checked on 18 October 2026 and change often. Get a quote from the insurer before you rely on any figure.

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