Income (previously NTUC Income) is one of our top picks for home insurance. With its focus on affordability and coverage breadth, Income offers some of the cheapest solutions that do not sacrifice key benefits. Not only that, its flexibility caters to the needs of almost any type of consumer. Although some of the luxury features important for wealthy consumers are below-average, we think Income's home insurance plans offer highly cost-effective solutions for the average homeowner.

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Income Enhanced Home Insurance Highlights

Income's Enhanced home insurance is a great budget option for homeowners of small flats. It is the cheapest option on the market for those living in 3-room and smaller HDBs. Tenants and homeowners have the option of purchasing building, renovation and contents coverage in S$10,000 increments, making it easy to ensure you aren't over or under-insuring your property. While it may not have the highest value on the market, it's hard to find coverage and competitive prices can make it a good option for consumers who want coverage that covers all the bases of homeownership.

Income offers plenty of benefits for homeowners who want to be protected from renovation and home damages. First, it offers a rarely-found benefit that provides coverage for brand new renovations done to your home. This can be helpful for new homeowners who just finished renovating their flats. Furthermore it offers debris removal, professional fees if your home gets damaged and needs to be surveyed and conservancy charge coverage. These benefits and other ones like personal accident, pet coverage and domestic worker belongings comes at no extra cost, a unique feature among affordable plans.

On the other hand, Income may be less appealing to homeowners of large or private flats who are looking for rock-bottom prices or need high valuables coverage. First, premiums for private home-owners cost slightly above average and there are insurers who charge less for HDB flat coverage. Second, individual valuables have a limit of 5% of your contents coverage, so if you have very expensive artwork, you may have to opt for higher contents coverage or declare those items separately and risk higher premiums. However, Income tends to offer promotions and offers a 15% discount on 3-year plans so consumers may win out on price if they purchase during a sale.

Income Enhanced Home Insurance for HDB Homeowners

Homeowners of small HDB flats (3 rooms or less) or those who live modestly may find Income to be a bargain buy. For S$40,000 of renovation and S$20,000 of contents coverage, your premium will be roughly S$39. However, homeowners of larger flats may find the annual premium to be less competitive. The total benefits per dollar of premium is 4-10% below average, indicating that it provides worse value for money than other insurers. Despite this, Income can appeal to HDB owners who are not price-constrained as it offers a plethora of benefits aimed at covering renovations and contents including alternative accommodation, pet, domestic worker, valuables, bike and emergency assistance benefits.

Despite the plethora of benefits, Income may not be suitable for HDB owners who prioritise price over coverage. For instance, homeowners who do not have pets, domestic workers, or have done renovations recently may find themselves paying extra for benefits they won't utilise.

Income Enhanced Home Insurance for Private & Landed Property Owners

In contrast to its HDB offering, Income is neither the most economical nor the best-value option for condo homeowners, as premiums run between average to 10% above average. Because of the uncompetitive prices, Income's value for money suffers, as you are getting less contents and renovation coverage per dollar compared to other insurers. Despite this, Income offers a plethora of benefits that can appeal to new condo owners who aren't price sensitive. For instance, it covers brand new renovations (10% of total limit), theft of money, electronics and legal document cover and accidental glass breakage for no extra cost.

Overall, Income can be a good option for landed property owners who aren't price sensitive. For S$1,000,000 of building coverage and a renovation and contents sum of S$330,000, annual premiums are S$652, 5% above the average for landed property plans. However, you can save 15% by purchasing the 3-year plan, which drops the annual price to S$20 below the landed property average. Price aside, Income provides flexible coverage for a variety of landed properties and automatically calculates the building coverage you need based on the size of your home. This helps eliminate the guesswork involved with estimating the coverage you need and lowers your risk of underinsuring your property. Lastly, despite its rather low individual valuables limit, it offers a wide array of benefits including document loss, valuables, domestic worker belongings and pet coverage.

Income Flexible Plan For Landlords & Tenants

Income's Enhanced Home Insurance stands out as the cheapest and best-value option for landlords. For the minimum premium of S$35.31, you can get home renovation coverage of up to S$140,000 for HDBs and up to S$80,000 for Condos. With premiums that are 55-75% cheaper than average, Income provides the best value for landlords looking to insure the cost of their renovations while also receiving landlord-friendly benefits like loss of income. However, one thing to note is that it does not provide coverage for landlord or tenant liability, nor legal fees for tenant disputes. Thus, Income may best fit landlords who already have trustworthy tenants.

Income's tenant plan offers the cheapest premiums on the market, with prices averaging between 40-60% below the average tenant plan. Regardless of whether you are renting a condo or HDB, your premium will cost less than S$100 per year for up to S$50,000 worth of contents coverage (less than S$10 per month). You'll receive coverage for a variety of your items including bicycles, mobile phones, laptops and valuables. However, as mentioned previously, Income does not provide tenant liability coverage or tenant dispute coverage so it may not be a good choice if you do not trust your landlord. For tenants interested in liability-related coverage, it may be worth considering FWD.

Policy Excess

An excess is the amount you are responsible for paying before the insurance company steps in and covers the claim. Income's policy excess are outlined below.

Claims & Contact Information

You must file a claim within 30 days of any insured incident. You can either send the claim form and all required documents (including police reports, photos, repair quotations) via email or post, or you can drop it off with your insurance advisor or at any Income branch. According to Income's website, it takes 10 working days to process your claim after everything is received. To avoid delays, you should ensure you are not missing any required documents.

Income Home Insurance Summary

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Income consistently ranks as our favorite pick for home insurance, thanks to its competitive rates and wide array of benefits. Despite the shortcomings in regards to some of the pricing, valuables sub-limit, Income provides enough coverage for a myriad of emergencies. If you'd like to learn more, please take a look at our list of the best home insurance plans in Singapore.

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