NSFs, NSmen, volunteers, regulars receive additional $300,000 insurance coverage from Jan 1

Full-time National Servicemen (NSF), Operationally Ready National Servicemen (NSmen) , volunteers and regulars will see an additional $150,000 coverage in two of their core insurance policies, according to a joint press release by The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday (Jan 2).

Since 2016, the Group Term Life (GTL) and Group Personal Accident (GPA) Core insurance policies provided coverage of up to $150,000 each. This will be raised to $300,000 on Jan 1 as part of an effort to enhance the Group Insurance Scheme, said MINDEF and MHA.

Other than the increased coverage, the GPA policy has also been renamed as the Group Personal Injury (GPI) policy and will cover medical conditions more comprehensively, such as long-term noise-induced hearing damage or decompression sickness.

These changes will benefit about 500,000 service personnel covered under the Group Insurance Scheme.

MINDEF and MHA stated that insured individuals who wish to increase their coverage or insure their dependents can purchase additional coverage at competitive premiums.

The maximum coverage one can purchase under the voluntary scheme has increased from $600,000 to $1 million.

Unlike core scheme premiums, premiums purchased under the voluntary scheme will be self-borne, and the insurance coverage will continue even after the personnel leaves service so long as it is paid for.

Insurance company Singlife has been appointed to provide MINDEF and MHA with the Group Insurance Scheme starting Jan 1.