MSIG Maid Insurance Review: How It Can Minus Helper Woes

In the eyes of MOM, purchasing a maid insurance plan is as unavoidable as the smallest of domestic mishaps. Here’s where MSIG MaidPlus can come in to smooth out both the household and your helper’s expenses.

Last December, over a play date, a Mum (let’s call her B) caught up with me about her neighbour’s maid problems as the kids frolicked at Jewel Changi Airport’s Canopy Park.

The domestic helper had suffered a sudden stroke and was found unconscious at home. Upon surgery, she was discovered to have unexplained bleeding in the brain and fell into a coma. As the doctors could not find any cure for the mystery illness, all that could be done was to keep her connected to the life-support machine.

Meanwhile, the daily costs to keep her hospitalised in the ICU at a non-resident rate were mounting.

As they only had basic domestic helper insurance, most of the medical fees were out of pocket. Although this was obviously a rare scenario, I wondered what employers in Singapore could do differently to protect themselves when hiring a maid.

Table of contents:

• Getting more than just the bare minimum
• MSIG MaidPlus features and coverage
  • Hospital and surgical expenses
  • Personal accident payout 
  • Wages and levy reimbursement and alternative domestic help
  • Optional Employers Liability cover
  • Premium cost
  • Add-ons
• Exclusive MSIG offer

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Getting more than just the bare minimum

Anyone who has had a helper knows that in order to employ one, you have to purchase maid insurance policy to meet the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) minimum requirements of at least S$60,000 in hospitalisation and personal accident coverage. Domestic helper insurance would also usually include the S$5,000 security bond to MOM as well.

But what happens if (touch wood) you find yourself in the same situation as B’s neighbour?

They ended up forking out more than S$15,000 in hospital fees; they also had to pay for medical repatriation expenses out of pocket because their helper was in a coma. Sending her back home safely to her family required two Business Class tickets, one for the helper (who was obviously immobile and needed to be in a reclining position) and an accompanying medical attendant to care for her needs.

Being an employer faced with such a situation would make the usual complaints people have about their helpers seem petty. If a helper has a bad attitude, steals, absconds or even gets pregnant, it doesn’t cost a nest egg to make a police report or send her home.

As such, a maid insurance plan with higher limits for personal accident, medical and hospitalisation expenses is worth considering when deciding on what maid insurance policy to buy.

MSIG MaidPlus features and coverage for extra peace of mind

Consider a more comprehensive plan such as this MSIG maid insurance, called MaidPlus. It offers up to S$120,000 in hospitalisation insurance and S$60,000 in personal accident coverage, fully satisfying the recently revised MOM regulations. 

Additionally, this plan also provides up to S$3,000 benefits for your maid’s medical expenses, which means you can claim for GP visits and minor ailments too.

Here are some of the key features of MSIG MaidPlus maid insurance. 

1) Hospital and surgical expenses

MSIG MaidPlus offers up to S$120,000 coverage for hospitalisation and surgical expenses, in case your maid is diagnosed with a serious condition that requires surgery or a hospital stay in Singapore. 

Furthermore, this benefit extends to cover 90 day pre- and post-hospitalisation, which is essential should diagnostic services and follow-up treatments such as physiotherapy be required.

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2) Personal accident payout

Much like any other personal accident insurance plans out there, MSIG MaidPlus has similar benefits to cover your domestic helper in the event of home accidents. It offers S$60,000 sum assured for accidental death and permanent disability, as well as S$20,000 in benefits for repatriation.

This plan also comes with up to S$3,000 coverage for outpatient medical expenses, such as dental visits, treatment by Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners and dengue fever. Note that sub-limits exist for each of these three specified expenses.

You should note that exclusions do apply in this case, such as medical expenses arising from psychiatric treatment, tests or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and congenital defects.

3) Wages and levy reimbursement and alternative domestic help

MSIG MaidPlus has a wage and levy reimbursement feature, whereby you’re paid a fixed sum per day for up to 30 days if your maid is hospitalised in Singapore as a result of an injury or illness, as long as the hospital and surgical expenses benefit is payable. 

Under the Alternative Domestic Help benefit, you can claim S$50 per day for up to 30, 45 or 60 days – depending on the plan tier you choose – for each day your maid is hospitalised.

Apart from that, you can be compensated for your maid’s wages and levy too during hospitalisation due to injury or illness. This benefit pays S$30 per day for up to 30, 45 or 60 days, again according to plan tier.

There is also compassionate home leave benefit of S$30 per day for 14 days maximum, should your maid have to travel back home due to the passing of her parent, spouse or child.

And should you need to terminate your maid’s employment due to her sickness or injury, you can claim up to S$750 to hire a replacement.

4) Optional Employers Liability cover

Remember the burden of care we talked about earlier, like the unforeseen scenario that your helper becomes (and perhaps remain) seriously injured or  suffers permanent disability?

This optional rider can help to take care of any claims made by your maid against you, as the accident would have occurred under your watch. The optional cover ranges from S$300,000 to S$1 million for an additional premium (ranging between S$27 to S$70.20).

5) Premium cost

Starting from S$579.96 for the basic plan, MSIG MaidPlus is priced on the higher side.

But it does offer higher limits on basic coverage such as the daily alternative domestic help benefit, as well as outpatient coverage that allows claims for dental treatment, dengue fever (diagnostic test and treatment) and TCM. 

They also offer a special lump sum payment of up to S$3,000 following the death of your helper in Singapore – this should go some way towards comforting her family back home.

6) Add-ons
In addition to the basic plan, you can consider the optional add-on covers based on your budget and needs.

One such add-on is the reduction of your co-payment. As it stands, your maid insurance policy will only cover 100% of the first S$15,000 of claims, with the rest subject to a 25% co-payment by you. This can still present a hefty amount should a serious injury or illness occur.

You can opt to reduce your co-payment by two levels – to 10% or to 0%. Here’s how much the extra premiums will cost.

Another noteworthy add-on relieves you of all liability should MOM make a demand for a security bond. This add-on is available for S$54, and comes with a S$250 excess. 

Exclusive MSIG offer on SingSaver

Protected up to specified limits by SDIC.

Note: This is only product information provided. You may wish to seek advice from a qualified adviser before buying the product. If you choose not to seek advice from a qualified adviser, you should consider whether the product is suitable for you. Buying an insurance product that are not suitable for you may impact your ability to finance your future healthcare needs.

If you decide that the policy is not suitable after purchasing the policy, you may terminate the policy in accordance with the free-look provision, if any, and the insurer may recover from you any expense incurred by the insurer in underwriting the policy.

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