Your TPD cover is not a disability insurance. Here’s why

What is Total Permanent Disability (TPD)?

Total Permanent Disability (TPD) is a benefit usually found in a life insurance plan. This benefit is usually embedded within the life insurance plan, or offered as an add-on rider, and is unlikely to be available as a standalone plan. Upon a successful claim, a lump sum pay-out will be given from the TPD benefit.

TPD is defined as the loss of both limbs, loss of sight of both eyes, or the loss of one eye and one limb. You must be permanently disabled and unable to work due to your disability.¹

What is Disability insurance?

Disability insurance, is a type of insurance that offers income replacement in the event that you are disabled and can no longer work or perform their usual work duties. There are two types of disability insurance: (1) disability income, and (2) long-term care insurance.

(1) Disability Income insurance

Disability income insurance offers a monthly replacement income benefit in the event that the insured is unable to continue working in his own occupation or a related occupation due to an accident or illness. This monthly benefit will be payable in the event of a continuous permanent or partial disability beyond the deferred period.

For example, a surgeon injures his hand in an accident and is no longer able to perform surgeries or work in any reasonable occupation that he was trained for. He would be able to receive his disability income benefit if there is no change to his situation and he remains partially disabled beyond the deferred period.

(2) Long-term care disability insurance

Long-term care disability insurance offers coverage against severe disability and benefit is given on a monthly basis. This is intended to help the insured with the cost needed for long term care.

The definition of severe disability is seen as the inability to perform a specified number of activities of daily living (ADLs). This starts from the inability to perform 3 out of 6 ADLs for CareShield Life, and may start from 1 ADL with CareShield Life supplements or other long-term care disability plans.

The 6 ADLs are: washing, dressing, walking, feeding, transferring and toileting. One example of a long-term care insurance is CareShield Life.

Do you need disability insurance?

All Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) who are born in 1980 or later are automatically enrolled into CareShield Life on their 30th birthday. Alternatively, if you are a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident born between 1970 and 1979, covered under the ElderShield 400 scheme and did not develop severe disability at the point of auto-enrolment, you would also have been auto-enrolled into CareShield Life from 1 December 2021.

If you fulfil either of the conditions above, this means that you already have basic disability insurance. This will provide a monthly disability benefit starting from $637 in 2023. If you feel that this monthly benefit is insufficient, consider adding CareShield Life supplements to receive a higher monthly disability benefit. Moreover, as benefits from CareShield Life will only commence upon the inability to perform 3 out of 6 Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), enhancing your coverage would also allow you to receive your monthly disability benefit at an earlier stage, or even from the first ADL.

CareShield Life supplements available on FSMOne:

^{Source: https://www.careshieldlife.gov.sg/content/dam/cshl/pdf/COMPARISON%20OF%20CARESHIELD%20LIFE%20SUPPLEMENTS%20(03%20Oct%202023).pdf}

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^{Information obtained from:}

^{1Source: https://www.lia.org.sg/media/3550/sgfindex-insurance-glossary-page.pdf}

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