HPS vs DPS in Singapore: How the CPF Home and Dependants' Protection Schemes Compare [2026]

As of July 2026, a CPF member aged 34 or below pays S$18 a year for S$70,000 of Dependants' Protection Scheme cover, rising to S$298 a year from age 55. Most working members already hold this cover without having applied for it, and many HDB owners hold a second CPF policy on top.

The Home Protection Scheme (HPS) is a mortgage-reducing insurance that protects HDB owners and their families from losing the flat if the owner dies or suffers terminal illness or total permanent disability. The Dependants' Protection Scheme (DPS) is term life insurance with S$70,000 of cover until the end of the policy year you turn 60, paid as a lump sum.

Both schemes insure the same three events and both draw premiums from CPF, so they are easy to confuse. The difference is where the money goes. An HPS claim pays off your housing loan with HDB or the bank, while a DPS claim pays cash to you or the people you nominate.

The choices you face also differ. HPS is required if you use CPF for HDB instalments, though you can be exempted with private life cover, while DPS is optional and you can opt out. Either can sit alongside private term insurance, and for many families all three play a part.

This guide explains how HPS and DPS compare, who each scheme covers, what the premiums cost in 2026, how co-owners split HPS cover, how claims are paid, when you can be exempted or opt out, and how to decide whether to keep both.

HPS vs DPS at a glance

The two schemes share insured events and a CPF payment route, and split on almost everything else.

Source: CPF Board HPS, CPF Board DPS, CPF Board HPS important notes (as of 19 October 2026)

Side-by-side comparison of HPS and DPS in 2026

What the Home Protection Scheme covers

HPS insures your outstanding HDB loan. If an insured event happens, CPF Board pays the lender up to the amount insured, and your family keeps the flat without the remaining instalments.

The cover reduces as the loan is paid down. It applies only to HDB flats: HPS does not cover private properties, such as executive condominiums or privatised HUDC flats.

HPS is also separate from the HDB fire insurance that protects the flat's structure and from home contents insurance. Those pay for damage to the home, while HPS pays for the loan when the owner can no longer service it.

Who must have HPS

You need HPS if you use CPF savings to pay your monthly HDB instalments. Owners who pay in cash are strongly encouraged to apply.

Cover depends on approval and good health. CPF Board may ask for a medical examination or a report from your doctor. If you take an HDB loan and pay with CPF, you apply for HPS at the same time as your CPF withdrawal application through HDB; bank loan and cash borrowers apply online.

How long HPS lasts

Cover runs until age 65 or until the housing loan is fully paid, whichever is earlier. If your loan runs past 65, CPF Board recommends private insurance for the remaining years.

Cover also ends when you sell the flat, when new HPS cover is issued for a new flat, or when you are no longer a Singapore Citizen or PR. Full repayment of an HDB loan ends cover automatically. A bank loan repaid in cash does not, so you write to CPF Board to end it.

How co-owners split HPS cover

Co-owners each choose a share of cover. Your share should at least match the share of the monthly instalment you pay with CPF or cash, and the total for the household must be at least 100%. Each owner can insure up to 100%, and a higher share means a higher premium.

CPF Board's handbook illustrates the split with a couple paying S$1,500 a month. Mr Tan pays S$1,000 from CPF and S$200 in cash, and Mrs Tan pays S$300 from CPF, so his minimum share is 80% and hers 20%.

Source: CPF Board HPS handbook (as of 19 October 2026)

How a couple paying S$1,500 a month splits HPS cover at 80% and 20%

The minimum split leaves a gap. If Mrs Tan dies, HPS pays off only her 20% share of the outstanding loan, and Mr Tan must keep paying the rest. If the household depends on both incomes, each owner can take a larger share, up to 100% each, so that either death clears more of the loan, at the cost of a higher combined premium.

HPS premiums and claims

HPS premiums are deducted from your Ordinary Account every year in your policy anniversary month. They depend on your outstanding loan, repayment period, gender and age, and CPF Board's HPS premium calculator gives an estimate for your loan.

You pay premiums for only part of the cover period: premiums are payable for 90% of the cover period, so a 30-year cover needs 27 years of premiums. If your OA is short, CPF Board asks you to pay within a grace period, and co-owners who are family members can authorise use of their OA. If the premium stays unpaid after the grace period, the policy lapses, and getting cover back means reapplying subject to health.

How an HPS claim is paid

A death claim starts without paperwork from the family. CPF Board assesses the claim once the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority notifies it of the death, then tells the co-owners or next of kin the outcome.

For terminal illness or total permanent disability, you apply online through CPF's one-stop form, which can cover HPS, DPS and a CPF withdrawal together. An accredited doctor completes the Medical Assessment Report, and the medical institution must submit it to CPF Board within 90 days of your application or it is cancelled.

Approved benefits go straight to HDB or the mortgagee to settle the outstanding loan, and any excess goes to your Ordinary Account. On a medical claim, HPS can pay your instalments for up to two years, after which CPF Board reviews whether you can claim the rest as a lump sum.

HPS definitions and exclusions

Terminal illness means an illness likely to result in death within 12 months, and it must have started on or after 1 May 2016. Total permanent disability covers permanent inability to work, or permanent loss of use of both eyes, two limbs, or one eye and one limb.

Claims are not paid for conditions excluded on your HPS certificate. In the first policy year, suicide or self-inflicted injury is excluded, and false or misleading health information can void the cover entirely, with no refund of premiums.

HPS exemption with private insurance

You can apply to be exempted from HPS if you already hold private life insurance large enough for the loan. The policies must cover the outstanding housing loan until the end of the loan term or age 65, whichever comes first, for death, terminal illness and total permanent disability.

Whole life, term life, endowment policies, life riders attached to a basic policy and mortgage reducing term assurance all qualify. Policies that are assigned or pledged, held under a trust or irrevocable nomination, carry policy loans, are priced in foreign currency, come from insurers not licensed by MAS, or are non-portable group policies are rejected. Health, personal accident, fire and contents policies do not count.

You apply through your insurer with loan documents dated within the last six months. If the exemption reaches CPF Board within one month of HPS being issued, the full premium is refunded to your OA; later than that, you receive a pro-rated refund when the cover ends.

What the Dependants' Protection Scheme covers

DPS is a basic term life policy for working CPF members. It is solely administered by Great Eastern Life and pays a lump sum on death, terminal illness or total permanent disability.

The sum assured is S$70,000 until the end of the policy year you turn 60. From the policy anniversary at 60 to the end of the policy year you turn 65, it drops to S$55,000. The cover is unrelated to any home loan, so the money is free to use for living costs, debts or education.

Who gets DPS and how to opt out

Singapore Citizens and PRs aged 21 to 65 are covered automatically once a valid CPF working contribution is made, subject to good health. Members aged 16 to 20 can apply for cover.

DPS is optional. You opt out by sending a form to Great Eastern Life, and if you later want to rejoin, cover depends on your health at that time.

DPS premiums by age in 2026

DPS premiums rise with age and are charged on the policy start date and each yearly renewal, based on your age at the point of payment.

Source: CPF Board DPS premium table (as of 19 October 2026)

DPS yearly premiums by age band and sum assured in 2026

Added up, a member covered every year from 21 to 64 pays S$5,037 in total at these rates. Just over 70% of that, S$3,547 across ages 21 to 59, buys the S$70,000 cover; the last five years at S$55,000 cost S$1,490.

Example only, based on CPF Board DPS premium table (as of 19 October 2026). Assumes continuous cover from 21 to 64 and today's premium rates throughout.

How DPS premiums are paid

Premiums are deducted automatically from your CPF savings when cover starts and at each renewal. If your CPF balance cannot cover the full premium, a partial premium is taken and the sum assured falls in proportion, down to a minimum of S$5,000. You restore full cover with a cash top-up to Great Eastern Life, and paying by GIRO keeps renewals on time.

The Special Account closure at 55 changes the payment route for older members. After your SA closes, DPS premiums can only be paid from your OA, subject to its balance, or in cash to Great Eastern Life. Members in their late 50s with a low OA balance should check that the S$298 premium will go through.

DPS claims and nomination

DPS-only claims go directly to Great Eastern Life, and claims for both schemes can go through CPF's one-stop form. As with HPS, terminal illness and some disability claims apply only to conditions that started on or after 1 May 2016.

Your CPF nomination does not reach DPS. The DPS payout follows a DPS nomination with the insurer or your will, and without either it goes to the proper claimants, such as your executor or a family member. Great Eastern Life does not take DPS nominations online, so you submit the original signed revocable nomination form by post or at a customer service centre.

HPS vs DPS vs private term insurance

HPS protects the roof over your family, DPS gives them a small cash buffer, and private term insurance replaces lost income at whatever level you choose.

Source: CPF Board HPS, CPF Board DPS, CPF Board HPS exemption (as of 19 October 2026)

The size of DPS sets its role. S$70,000 can cover funeral costs, short-term bills and some months of household expenses, but for a family that relies on one income for decades it is a starting point. Private term cover fills that gap, and the amount depends on your income, debts and how many years your dependants need support.

How to check and change your cover

You can see your HPS cover, share and premium by logging in to my cpf. Changes to the loan affect cover in different ways: if CPF pays the loan and the amount or term is reduced, cover adjusts automatically, while an increase needs a fresh application. If you refinance while already covered, the cover adjusts on its own; cash-paid bank loans with a changed term need an online adjustment request.

DPS cover sits with Great Eastern Life, which handles changes to payment method, nominations and opt-outs. Keep both schemes in mind after life events: a new flat ends the old HPS cover and starts new cover subject to health, and marriage or a new child is a prompt to review your DPS nomination.

Should homeowners keep both HPS and DPS?

Four common situations show how your loan, your dependants and any private cover you hold shape the decision.

HDB owner paying with CPF, no private life cover. HPS is compulsory, and DPS adds a cash payout the loan cover does not give. Keeping both is the default, and the main decision is whether your share of HPS cover is high enough.

HDB owner with a large private term policy. If the policy meets the exemption rules, you can replace HPS and save the premium. DPS can still be worth keeping at its low premiums while you are younger, since rejoining later depends on your health.

Private property owner. HPS does not apply. DPS remains available, and private mortgage-reducing or term cover protects the property loan.

Single member with no dependants. HPS still applies if you use CPF for an HDB loan. DPS is optional; some members keep it for parents or siblings who rely on them, and others opt out.

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Frequently asked questions

These are the questions CPF members most often ask about HPS and DPS.

Is HPS compulsory if I use CPF to pay my HDB loan?

Yes. Members who use CPF savings for monthly HDB instalments need HPS cover, subject to health approval. The only way out is an exemption backed by private life insurance that covers the outstanding loan to the end of the loan term or age 65, whichever is earlier.

Does DPS cover my mortgage?

Not directly. DPS pays a lump sum of up to S$70,000 to you or your nominees, and the family decides how to use it. HPS is the scheme that pays HDB or the bank to settle the loan.

Does HPS cover private property?

HPS applies only to HDB flats. Executive condominiums and privatised HUDC flats are outside the scheme, so owners of those homes need private mortgage or term insurance to protect the loan.

Can I opt out of DPS?

Yes, DPS is optional, and you opt out by sending a form to Great Eastern Life. If you change your mind later, you can apply again, but cover depends on your health at that point.

Is Great Eastern the DPS insurer?

Great Eastern Life is currently the sole administrator of DPS. Premium payments, nominations, opt-outs and DPS-only claims all go to the insurer, while HPS is run by CPF Board.

Does my CPF nomination control my DPS payout?

No. A CPF nomination covers only your CPF account savings. DPS benefits follow a separate DPS nomination with Great Eastern Life or your will. Members who want specific people to receive the DPS payout should submit the insurer's nomination form.