Residential fires in Singapore climbed 8.6% in 2025, reaching 1,051 incidents – and the data is drawing fresh attention to a protection gap that sits inside one of the city-state’s most widely held insurance arrangements.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) recorded 2,050 fire calls in 2025, a 3% increase on the prior year. Fires at residential premises were the primary driver of that rise, with unattended cooking and electrical faults remaining the two most common causes. The figures were published in SCDF’s annual fire and enforcement statistics report on February 11, 2026.
For the more than one million Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat households in Singapore, those numbers carry a direct insurance implication. The compulsory HDB Fire Insurance Scheme covers the reinstatement of internal structures, fixtures, and fittings originally installed by HDB. It does not cover renovations carried out by the flat owner, home contents, personal belongings, alternative accommodation, or personal liability – all of which sit outside the scheme’s scope, as confirmed in a written parliamentary answer published by the Ministry of National Development.
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The gap between what the compulsory scheme covers and what a typical renovated flat is actually worth is not academic. A flat owner whose property sustains fire damage may find the original building structure reinstated under the mandatory policy while facing out-of-pocket costs for all subsequent renovation work, contents, and temporary accommodation. This is a distinction that many policyholders do not fully register until a claim arises.
The insurance market is absorbing the cost of that gap at scale. Property insurance gross written premiums in Singapore’s domestic general insurance sector reached S$864.1 million in 2025, a 4.1% year-on-year increase, according to the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA). Net incurred claims for the property segment rose 60.5% over the same period, with the GIA citing the higher frequency of fire incidents across residential and commercial premises as a contributing factor.
“Whether it’s an accident on the road, a fire at home, or a crisis while overseas, insurance is what enables individuals and businesses to recover financially and move forward from unexpected events,” said Scott Spaven, president of GIA, in the association’s March 2026 annual results release.
The divergence between a 4.1% rise in premiums and a 60.5% rise in claims is a figure underwriters working in the personal lines segment are likely to track closely. It suggests current pricing has not fully kept pace with loss frequency, a dynamic that could signal future rate adjustments in the residential property space.
For brokers advising residential clients in Singapore, the fire data supports a straightforward client conversation. The compulsory scheme creates a floor of coverage, but that floor does not reflect the actual replacement cost of what most flat owners have built and accumulated inside their homes. The value of home contents, appliances, and personal belongings routinely exceeds what policyholders expect the basic scheme to protect.
Read more: Singapore general insurance premiums top SG$6 billion
Voluntary home contents insurance products in Singapore can extend coverage to include renovation works, contents, alternative accommodation, and personal liability. For brokers, the gap represents a concrete advisory opportunity, and the SCDF’s latest fire statistics provide context that makes the conversation easier to initiate.
GIA’s overall domestic general insurance gross written premiums reached S$6.09 billion in 2025, the first time the sector has surpassed the S$6 billion mark. Property insurance, accounting for 14.2% of the domestic market by premium volume, sits third behind motor and health in segment size.
