Debated in Parliament on 5 Aug 2019.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Manpower in the last three years, how many HDB occupiers were unable to make claims under the Home Protection Scheme because the policy lapsed.
From 2016 to 2018, the Home Protection Scheme (HPS) helped to pay the remaining mortgage for about 3,000 HDB flat owners who passed away, became terminally ill or suffered from total permanent disability. Another 20 claims were unsuccessful as the members' HPS policies had lapsed.
We have put in place several measures to minimise the risk that HDB flat owners lapse on their HPS coverage.
(a) HPS premiums are automatically deducted from the flat owner's CPF Ordinary Account (OA). This minimises any out-of-pocket payments for the HPS premium.
(b) Flat owners can tap on their co-owners' CPF-OA savings to help pay the HPS premium.
(c) If flat owners miss their premium payment despite the above measures, CPF Board will offer a two-month grace period for the flat owner to pay the HPS premium. CPF Board will send letters to remind the flat owner to top up his CPF-OA and will prioritise new OA contributions for HPS premiums over mortgage instalments during this grace period.
The flat owner's HPS coverage will lapse if he does not pay the premium by the end of the two-month grace period. For flat owners whose coverage has lapsed and are using CPF to pay their mortgage instalments, CPF Board continues to send letters every six months reminding them to re-apply for HPS coverage.
In the few cases of unsuccessful claims where the HPS has lapsed, dependants can seek HDB's assistance to reduce or defer mortgage payments until the family regains financial stability, or right-size to a more affordable flat if they choose to do so.
PAPERCUTS