- A person may only apply for exemption from HPS in respect of a property after obtaining legal ownership of the property, or the housing loan for the property has been disbursed.
- Criteria for granting exemption from HPS (i.e. HPS exemption guidelines):
a. The applicant must have in force, appropriate insurance policies which would discharge his housing loan liabilities in the event of his death, terminal illness (TI) or total permanent disability (TPD) until the end of the housing loan term or until he turns age 65, whichever is earlier. The coverage of the insurance policies must be at least equivalent to the coverage of an HPS cover.
b. Only life insurance policies (traditional or investment-linked) such as whole life policies, level term/renewable level term policies, endowment policies or mortgage reducing term assurance (MRTA)/decreasing term policies* are acceptable for HPS exemption.
c. The applicant must be both the owner and life insured of the policies.
d. The insurance policies must be portable i.e. the validity of the policies must not depend on the applicant’s employment or membership status.
e. The insurance companies must be able to monitor and report any changes (e.g. discontinued or altered) in the insurance policies to CPF Board as soon as possible.
f. The insurance policies must be priced in Singapore dollar and the insurance companies licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
- Below are some examples of policies/features that are NOT acceptable for HPS exemption as they could not meet the above HPS exemption guidelines:
a. Policies that are assigned or pledged as collateral;
b. Policies under section 73 of the Conveyancing Law And Property Act (Cap. 61) or under any irrevocable nomination/trust arrangement;
c. Policies with loans attached;
d. Non-life insurance policies, such as business insurance policies, legacy insurance policies, health insurance policies or general insurance policies (e.g. personal accidental, fire or home contents policies);
e. Group policies that are not portable.
- If the owner and co-owner of the property use their joint-life policy to apply for HPS exemption, both parties must be the owners and life-insureds of their joint-life policy and the sum assured of the policy must be sufficient to cover 100% of the housing loan.
- If granted, the exemption will be granted to the applicant(s) who applied for the exemption. Hence, the person(s) who wish to apply for exemption from HPS has to submit his own exemption application to the CPF Board for processing.
- Upon approval, the applicant’s HPS cover would be cancelled and the full premium would be refunded if the CPF Board receives the HPS exemption application within one month from the issuance of his HPS cover. If the CPF Board receives the HPS exemption application later than one month from the issuance of his HPS cover, a surrender value/pro-rated premium will be refunded in accordance with the Central Provident Fund Board (Home Protection Insurance Scheme) Regulations upon the termination of the HPS cover.
- The policies approved for exemption must remain in force and unchanged. The applicant or insurance company must inform the CPF Board immediately if any of the policies are discontinued or altered. The approved exemption may be revoked if the policies approved for exemption have been discontinued or altered.
- If the exemption is revoked, the CPF Board may, if the applicant is still eligible to be covered under HPS, extend the HPS cover to the applicant, based on the percentage declared by the applicant in Part I of this application, subject to the CPF Board’s terms and conditions.
- The applicant has to reapply for exemption if he wishes to be exempted from HPS after the CPF Board has revoked his exemption.
* 1) The sum assured of an MRTA/decreasing term policy will reduce periodically in accordance with the policy term and interest rate stated in the policy contract. Please ensure that the reducing sum assured is sufficient to cover the outstanding housing loan, in the event of the applicant’s death, TI or TPD, until the end of the housing loan term or until the applicant turns age 65, whichever is earlier.
2) The mortgage rate of an MRTA/deceasing term policy must be equivalent or higher than the highest interest rate of the housing loan. For HDB concessionary loan, a mortgage rate of 3% is assumed. For HDB market rate loan and bank loan, a mortgage rate of 4% is assumed.