If you own a condo or a landed home, nobody hands you a cheap fire policy the way HDB does. The right home insurance for a private property has to rebuild the structure you legally own, replace a six-figure renovation, and cover what happens when a burst pipe floods the unit below. For most condo owners that lands between roughly S$200 and S$400 a year as of June 2026; a landed home with a full structural sum insured costs more. The plans worth shortlisting are AIG Homes Advantage, NTUC Income Enhanced Home, FWD, Singlife and MSIG, and the cheapest headline premium is almost never the one that pays out in full. This guide walks through the sum-insured maths, the 2026 prices, and the clauses that quietly decide your claim.
An HDB owner with an outstanding loan is already covered for the worst structural case. The HDB Fire Insurance Scheme, underwritten by Etiqa since the 2024 reappointment, rebuilds the flat's structure, fixtures and fittings provided by HDB for a five-year premium of between S$1.11 and S$6.68 depending on flat size. A condo or landed owner has no equivalent. Your share of the building is yours to insure, and the management corporation's master policy usually stops at common property, not the inside of your unit.
That is the first reason private home insurance costs more and matters more. The second is the renovation. A private fit-out routinely runs past S$80,000, and that money is not part of the building sum insured the developer's specification implies. If you under-insure the renovation, a fire claim can be scaled down under the average clause, which we explain below. The third is liability: a leak from your bathroom into the unit below is your problem, and repair bills plus a strata dispute add up fast.
Before you compare premiums, separate the three things a private policy is buying: the building (structure you own), home contents and renovation (everything inside), and personal liability (damage you cause to others). A standalone HDB fire policy only ever touches the first, which is why we treat fire insurance versus home insurance as a different question from picking a private-property plan.
Sizing the sum insured is the part most owners get wrong, and it decides whether a claim pays in full. Work it backwards from rebuild cost, not market value. The land under a condo or landed home is not destructible, so you insure the cost to reconstruct the structure and finishes, not the price you paid.
For a condo, the building sum insured covers your share of reconstruction plus fixtures the developer installed. Insurers' sample condo policies in 2026 set this anywhere from around S$85,000 on an entry tier to S$225,000 on a premier tier. Landed homes need far more because you are rebuilding the whole house, garage, driveway, gates and any pool, so a custom quote is standard.
If you insure your renovation for S$30,000 when it actually cost S$60,000, you are insured for half the value. Under the average clause, a S$10,000 partial claim can be cut to S$5,000 because the insurer treats you as self-insuring the shortfall. A few plans now waive this when you accept the recommended sum insured, which is worth more than a small premium discount. Our renovation cost calculator gives you a defensible fit-out figure to insure against rather than a guess.
The table compares the plans most often shortlisted for condos and landed homes. Premiums are GST-inclusive where the provider quotes them that way, and they move with sum insured, unit size and promotions, so treat them as 'from' figures as of June 2026 and confirm a live quote before buying. The AIG Homes Advantage tiers are taken from AIG's own published pricing; the rest are typical condo-policy figures from current comparison and provider data.
| Plan | Annual premium (from) | Building sum insured | Contents and renovation | Personal liability | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIG Homes Advantage (Classic) | S$203.56 | Up to S$85,000 | Up to S$20,000 | S$1,000,000 worldwide | Smaller condo, lean fit-out |
| AIG Homes Advantage (Superior) | S$290.76 | Up to S$135,000 | Up to S$35,000 | S$1,000,000 worldwide | Average condo owner |
| AIG Homes Advantage (Premier) | S$401.94 | Up to S$225,000 | Up to S$50,000 | S$1,000,000 worldwide | Large condo, high-value reno |
| NTUC Income Enhanced Home | S$35.97 (min, flexible) | As reinstatement amount you set | As amount you set | S$500,000 worldwide | Owners who want to size each limit |
| FWD Home Insurance | Varies by quote | Included; set by quote | Up to S$100,000 reno / contents | Worldwide (set by plan) | Price-sensitive condo owners |
| Singlife Home | From ~S$195 (with enhancement) | From S$100,000 (optional) | Up to S$500,000 (high tier) | Family worldwide | Owners wanting high contents cover |
Headline premium ranks plans badly because the cheapest tier is usually the one with the thinnest building and renovation sums. AIG's three Homes Advantage tiers show the real trade: Classic at S$203.56 buys S$85,000 of building cover, while Premier at S$401.94 nearly triples that and raises contents to S$50,000. For a condo with a S$120,000 fit-out, the Classic tier looks cheap until the average clause halves a claim.
NTUC Income takes the opposite design. Instead of fixed tiers it lets you set each reinstatement amount, with a minimum yearly premium of S$35.97 inclusive of GST, so a landed owner can scale the building sum insured to a proper rebuild valuation. FWD competes on price and bundles renovation and contents up to S$100,000, which suits owners who care more about what is inside than the structure. Singlife's higher tiers push contents cover up toward S$500,000 for owners with valuable belongings.
Standard private plans cover fire, lightning, explosion, water damage from burst pipes, theft following forced entry, and impact damage. Better plans add all-risks contents cover, which pays for accidental loss or damage unless the cause is specifically excluded, and personal liability that follows you worldwide. The terms behind a payout, like reinstatement and the average clause, are defined the same way across insurers, so it helps to know the co-insurance principle before you compare.
If you rent your condo out, you want landlord cover with loss of rent and landlord's legal liability, which on AIG's plan reaches S$1,000,000. If you rent and live there, you only need contents and renovation plus personal liability, since the structure is the owner's responsibility. Buying the wrong side of this is a common and expensive mistake; the same logic separates a structural policy from home contents insurance.
Get three quotes at the same sum insured so you are comparing like for like; a 28% to 51% spread on near-identical cover is normal in this market. Promotions on aggregator sites rotate, from cashback to gift vouchers, so the net cost of the same plan can swing by S$30 to S$80 depending on where you buy and when. Date-check any deal you see, because they expire.
Decide your renovation and contents figure first, then let it drive the tier rather than picking the cheapest premium and back-filling the cover. If a private home is a stretch in the first place, the running costs including insurance belong in the budget; our mortgage calculator and the HDB versus condo comparison help you see the full carrying cost before you commit.
It is not legally compulsory the way HDB fire insurance is for flats with an outstanding loan, but most banks require a mortgaged condo or landed home to carry fire or building insurance as a loan condition, and going without leaves you personally liable for rebuild and renovation costs.
For an average condo, expect roughly S$200 to S$400 a year as of June 2026, depending on building and contents sum insured. AIG Homes Advantage runs from about S$203.56 for the Classic tier to S$401.94 for Premier, while flexible plans like NTUC Income start lower because you set each limit yourself.
The MCST master policy generally covers common property and the building structure, not the inside of your unit. Your renovation, fixtures, contents and personal liability sit outside it, which is exactly the gap a private home insurance policy is bought to fill.
The average clause scales a claim down in proportion to how under-insured you are. If your renovation is insured for half its real cost, a partial claim is paid at roughly half, so set the sum insured to the true rebuild and fit-out value, and prefer plans that waive the clause at the recommended sum.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.