Security Bond and Insurance: What You're Actually Required to Buy

Almost every first-time employer asks us some version of the same question: "wait, do I need a bond, or insurance, or both?" The honest answer is both, and they're not interchangeable — the security bond protects the government's interest in making sure your helper leaves Singapore when she's supposed to, while the two insurance policies protect your helper (and you) if something goes wrong medically or in an accident. Here's what each one actually is.

The $5,000 security bond

Employers of a Migrant Domestic Worker must place a $5,000 security bond with MOM for each helper they employ — with one exception: helpers from Malaysia are exempt. The bond isn't cash you hand over; in practice it's arranged as a banker's or insurer's guarantee, and most agencies (including us) arrange this for you as part of onboarding, not as a separate errand.

The bond stays in place for the entire time your helper is employed, and is only discharged after her Work Permit is cancelled, she has actually left Singapore, and no bond conditions were breached along the way — typically about a week after she departs.

What can cause it to be forfeited

• Breaching Work Permit or security bond conditions
• Paying your helper's salary late
• Failing to repatriate her when her Work Permit expires, is revoked, or is cancelled
• Your helper going missing

Employers who can show they informed their helper of the rules and reported any violation promptly are generally not held liable for their helper's own actions — but the safest position is simply staying on top of renewals, salary payment dates, and keeping your agency in the loop early if anything looks off.

The two insurance policies you're required to buy

These are separate from the bond, separate from each other, and both compulsory before your helper even arrives in Singapore:

• Medical insurance — at least $60,000 sum insured per year, covering inpatient care and day surgery during her stay. You're required to have this in place before she arrives, and by law you cannot pass this cost on to her.
• Personal accident insurance — at least $60,000 sum insured per year, covering sudden, unforeseen accidents that result in permanent disability or death, with the payout made to your helper or her beneficiaries, not to you.

Medical insurance covers her getting sick or needing surgery. Personal accident insurance covers her getting seriously hurt in an accident. They're not two names for the same thing, and MOM requires both.

What changed with the "enhanced" medical insurance rules

If your policy is newer, it likely already includes a round of enhancements MOM phased in from 2023: a higher $60,000 annual claim limit with the cost of larger claims shared between insurer and employer (insurers cover 75% of amounts above $15,000, employers the remaining 25%), standardised exclusion clauses so policies are easier to compare, premiums split by two age bands (50 and below, and above 50), and — genuinely useful in practice — insurers paying hospitals directly once a claim is accepted, rather than your helper or you having to pay upfront and claim it back later.

The bottom line

None of this needs to be complicated to get right, but it does need to be in place before your helper lands — not arranged in a scramble afterward. This is exactly why we handle the bond and insurance as part of onboarding rather than leaving it to employers to sort out separately; it's one less thing to get wrong on a checklist that already has a lot on it. See our related guide on what hiring a helper actually costs in Singapore for how the bond and insurance premiums fit into the bigger cost picture.