Compulsory Insurance that MCST and MC needs (Contractor All Risks, Fire Insurance, Public Liability)

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Cedric Soh

There are numerous general insurance that is legally required by MCST (Management Corporation Strata Title) or MC (Management Committee) to have their landlords and tenants to have for their properties, in order to protect other property owners and themselves. Some examples are basic fire insurance for the building and structure or public liability insurance that some MCST makes it compulsory for landlords.

Beside mandatory general insurance, some insurance that is good to have are contractors all risks insurance, glass liability, etc, etc. You may find more details in this article

What is MCST?

MCST stands for Management Corporation Strata Title and refers to the management body of a building (usually a condominium or building shared with many office owners or shop owners). The management body handles the routine maintenance and caretaking of the building. Periodically, the MCST will handle annual reports, AGM (annual general meeting) and handling of pollings for renovation, refurbishing, change of designs, and enbloc affairs.

The MCST is usually a single corporate set up to manage the building or it can be a large corporation MCST managing many different buildings to pool resources and for economies of scales.

What is MC?

In many cases, the MC is a short form of referring to the MCST.

In some cases, residents refer to MC as the management council, a representative body that is elected from residents or owners of properties in the building.

Almost all affairs of daily maintenance of the building will be handled and referred to the MCST.

What are some insurance that MCST should ask property owners to protect the building and their properties

Here are some insurance that is critical for protecting the properties and MCST

Fire insurance (All risks) for the structure of the building
Public liability (especially for commercial building)
Contractors All Risks (CAR) insurance for landlords who are renovating.

Fire insurance All Risks Insurance for MCST and building owners

A devasting fire can cause the structure of the building to be severely affected and it is going to cost a big sum of engineer fees to assess and certify the building is safe and able to operate as normal.

PMD charging fire no insurance coverage

If the civil engineer finds that the building’s structural integrity is badly damaged in the fire, the building can be deemed a risk, and steps must be taken to rectify the damage. The worst scenario (not unthinkable) is that the building is a total loss and the MCST and landlords must take action to demolish the building at its costs.

This is why fire insurance all risks coverage for the building and structure is so important as the cost of such an event is high and devasting.

All HDB owners are required by law to buy fire insurance of the structure (covering only the building and not the belongings and furnishing in their own homes) precisely because they are worried of devasting events that render a building unliveable.

MCST can also request landlords to have better fire insurance coverage to cover common areas and their own private area liabilities to have peace of mind.

Public Liability policy for commercial building MCST

For many commercial buildings, the public is allowed to enter and use the facilities in the building. A public liability policy helps the MCST to answer any disastrous event that may happen to a member of the public.

A simple case would be someone falling down due to the slippery floor from a rainstorm. The person may sue the building for not managing the wet floor properly due to bad rain cover design or lack of a warning sign.

Ang Mo Kio shophouse fire disrupted business

Other examples can be of visitor cars damaged by trees falling or items dropping from higher heights damaging the visitor’s cars.

A simple public liability policy can help answer any legal or liability case arising from public’s disputes with the MCST

Contractors All Risks to cover landlords and MCST

All buildings will have new landlords or new tenants moving in and out over the years. And any new landlords or tenants may want to do a heavy renovation or simple retrofitting of the premises.

An inexperienced renovation contractor or even an experienced one can have accidents that damage common corridors, common shared facilities or damage building pipes, wires, etc.

Renovation Contractors All Risk Package

In some cases, renovation work may damage nearby neighbour’s properties and incur high hotel bills if the resident needs to live somewhere else temporarily. Some unfortunate cases have occurred where neighbours got injured and racked up high medical and hospital bills to be paid by the renovating units.

Most residential MCST now insists the renovation contractors sign indemnity forms to compensate them in the event of accidents or mishaps. However, we know that many contractors in Singapore are small businesses and would not survive a big financial setback.

The MCST would have no way to seek compensation if the business goes bankrupt. Hence the recent trend is for MCST to request for the contractor and the renovating units to purchase Contractors all risks insurance to cover the period of renovation.

You can refer here to our MCST insurance solution.

f your MCST or you need any more information, feel free to email HM consultancy at sales @ hminsg. com or whatsapp us at 82003255

HDB Fire Insurance does NOT cover Home Contents or Home Renovations

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Cedric Soh

Many HDB residents have compulsory fire HDB fire insurance but they are not aware that HDB Fire insurance does NOT cover home contents nor home renovation. (Not covering furnishing, renovations, home furniture etc)

This is why it is so important for you to seek out insurance agencies to cover your home coverage. Insurance agents do not actively go sell this insurance as it has very low commission for them. You must get a good coverage for your home as your home is probably the most expensive item you have bought.

This article is on 22nd July 2019 and demonstrated how so many HDB flat residents lost their fortunes, met with high hospital death (and in some cases funeral costs) without insurance compensations.

HDB Fire Insurance not cover Home Contents

What is covered under home contents insurance? What are these that are not covered by HDB Fire insurance?

Home contents insurance covers these:-

their precious personal belongings
furniture
electric appliances
renovated furnishings

These are home contents that are NOT covered by the HDB fire insurance scheme but can be easily covered by any affordable plans offered by the numerous fire insurance companies in Singapore.

HDB Fire insurance does not cover home contents, does not cover PMD (Personal Mobility devices) such as e-scooter, e-bicycles that are charged at home and cause fire.

What does HDB Fire insurance coverage covers?

The HDB fire insurance scheme was introduced to protect HDB INTERNAL structures, fixtures as well as area built and provided by HDB.

What does fire insurance plan cover for HDB?

They protect HDB’s assets, not the HDB residents. This is so that HDB does not need to ask for the HDB flat dwellers for compensations on repairs works after any fire accident. HDB can simply claim from the fire insurance company, which collects the necessary premiums from the HDB owners yearly.

Till 15 August 2019, the 5-year premiums (including 7% GST) are as follows:

Flat Type	5-Year Premium (Including 7% GST)	Sum Insured
1-room	$1.50	$19,300
2-room/ 2-room Flexi	$2.50	$26,300
3-room	$4.50	$41,800
4-room	$5.50	$69,100
5-room	$6.60	$75,600
Executive/ Multi-Generation flats	$7.50	$98,200
Studio Apartment (Type A)	$3.50	$29,000
Studio Apartment (Type B)	$4.00	$37,200

This is also why HDB fire insurance is so cheap, it only covers the structures of the HDB flats and not on the flat residents’ furniture, furnishing, and belongings.

Is HDB fire insurance compulsory?

Yes, it is compulsory for all HDB flat owners with HDB mortgage loans to buy basic HDB fire insurance. If you have a bank loan for HDB, the bank will almost certainly require you to buy fire insurance from their appointed insurers partners too.

HDB and banks do not want their assets to be without cover.

Do I have fire insurance?

Probably no. You may have the compulsory HDB structures fire scheme, but most likely you do not have fire insurance for your home contents.

In the Straits Times report on 22 July 2019, more than 50% of all HDB residents do NOT have Home Content Fire insurance.

You should probably speak to an agent with more than a few comparison insurers for the best value for money plan.

As a condo owner, does condominium MCST has fire insurance?

No. Even if your condominium MCST has fire coverage, it would be for the structural and common assets, NOT for your own personal belongings.

How much does fire insurance cost?

Very little. A basic home contents plan will cost you less than $50 a year or $4 a month. Yes, barely $50! Even more premium and wider coverage plans cost you barely $10-$30 a month. Singaporeans generally treasure their belongings at home and tend to choose the popular wider coverage home contents insurance.

Even for condominium and landed property owners such as bungalow, semi-detached, etc, fire insurance coverage for your home amounts to only a few cents or dollars per day. Some costs less than $200 per year.

HDB Fire Insurance does not cover home contents

How do I claim for fire insurance?

For HDB fire insurance scheme, HDB can claim directly with the appointed fire insurer, and an officer will probably need you to help in providing the situational report on the fire.

For home content fire insurance, you can refer to the insurers’ website for the correct forms or refer to your fire insurance brokers. Update your insurers fast because they need to check the scene as soon as possbile before you start cleaning and clearing away the debris.

You can also contact us directly for help.

Does home insurance cover fire caused by PMD charging?

If a fire is caused by a PMD (personal mobility device) charging while you are at home and not sleeping, home content insurance usually covers these fire or accidents.

However, if your PMD such as E-scooters battery is charging unsupervised while you are asleep or not at home, any fire or accidents that occurred would not be covered by your home contents insurance.

Do NOT charge your PMD batteries unsupervised.

Which home fire insurance is best in Singapore?

The home insurance that you have paid and is active in covering your family home.

There are 101 different fire and home insurance in Singapore, and thanks to MAS, all General Insurers are regulated with proper financial assets to back their protections.

The best insurance plan is useless if you are not under it. Get something fast and get it over with quickly because there are too many people who are procrastinating and regretting it when “it won’t happen to me” happens.

How do I get fire insurance?

Get it from a trusted fire insurance broker. HM Consultancy works with many insurance companies to get affordable and value for money plans for their clients. If you do have special cases, such as more sentimental or valuable belongings in your home for assessment, you can contact us for customised plans.

HM Consultancy has worked with condominiums, landed properties such as good-class bungalows, semi-detached, terrace as well as HDB flats for home and fire coverage. Not only that, we have done specialised cases for people with unusual art works, drones, electronics at home too.

Do check HM Consultancy for the best home fire insurance coverage.

Fire is costly and disruptive to business & home owners

Posted on July 16, 2019 by Cedric Soh

Most of us, be it homeowners or businesses think the most a fire can do to our belongings and properties are just destroying it and end-of-story.

UPDATE: 23 July 2019 – another fire caused by charging batteries of PMD

SINGAPORE – A personal mobility device (PMD) left to charge in an Ang Mo Kio flat early on Monday (July 22) exploded in the afternoon, causing a fire that destroyed the flat and damaged two neighbouring units.

PMD charging fire no insurance coverage

Home contents Fire Insurance does not cover unsupervised charging of PMD batteries

Please note that many insurers, even when you buy home contents insurance does not cover your home due to e-scooter charging overnight with no supervision.

In this case, the adults left the e-scooter to charge and they left the home without anyone, the fire insurance would NOT cover this case due to unsupervised charging of PMD (personal mobility device)

It is a lot more damaging than that (you won’t understand the weeks or months disruption until you encountered one)

And if a fire happens to a neighbour, you may think its no big deal to me!

Fire affects everyone, even those unburnt

A FIRE, even only on a neighbour and not on your site, can be very disruptive to your business and life.

The aftermaths of a fire can be extremely costly to a neighbourhood.

You now face blacked surroundings, and you are also left with severe waterlogging (from firefighting activities) and cleanup work to be done. Your businesses cannot resume without all these works.

And even after restorative works are completed, your business may not be continuing as per normal:- your usual customers may shun you.

Is Fire insurance more expensive?

A cheap yearly annual fire insurance or business insurance or the risks of loss of capital, loss of income and painful restorative payments.

A fire gutted Ang Mo Kio shophouses on 5th July 2019 and the damage was painful. Not only that, patrons and customers stayed away from the area.

Taken from Straits Times https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/shopkeepers-bemoan-loss-of-business-after-ang-mo-kio-fire-injured-scdf-officer-discharged

The fire, which has affected the supply of power and electricity to the block, has resulted in Mr Leong losing about 50 per cent of his usual business.
“We are safe and we are lucky we can still open, but there is no phone line here, which means my customers cannot make bookings and can only pay with cash. Even when they walk in, they do not want to stay because there is no Wi-Fi,” he said.
Mr Leong is not alone, as other shopkeepers and employees also bemoaned the lack of Internet service and for some, electricity.

Fire is bad for homeowners

Thankfully, if a fire occurred and your family and you are safe, bless you!

Roughly 100 residents were affected by a single household fire on 24 June 2019.

In a video posted by Facebook user Dahlia SenSasi, thick black smoke is seen billowing out of the fourth-floor corridor as at least six firefighters break into the corner unit where the fire is raging.
People can also be seen knocking on doors on the other floors to alert residents of the incident. A total of 100 residents were evacuated by police, said SCDF.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/fire-breaks-out-in-yishun-flat-2-taken-to-hospital-10463808

However, the bad news:- a fire engulfed your personal belongings, your important memory, and sentimental stuff, there are more….

You have to spend more money to restore your structure, your furnishing and redo furnitures for your home.

Damages caused by neighbour’s fire in HDB, Condo or Landed

If you are a neighbour, not only do you have to feel heartpain for your neighbour’s poor stroke of luck, you probably have to fork out plenty of money to clean up your home. If you are above or near him, you have to repaint the walls, throw away furnishing, clothes, furnitures that are damaged with bad smell and smoke.

If you are below him, you will have to deal with severe water damage.

If you are cautious about money and financials, you will realise something:- a fire insurance is the best thing you can to protect your finances.

Don’t just buy fire insurance, get a proper business or home coverage at the best value-for-money, don’t overpay for coverage you may not need. Do not over pay for your insurance cover.

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Category Archives: Fire Business Interruption Insurance