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Great Eastern Insurance and Caregiver Asia have partnered to offer a professional indemnity insurance solution for freelance caregivers in Singapore.
CaregiverAsia is an online aggregator for on-demand health and caregiving services.
The professional indemnity insurance protects caregivers from legal liability and costs associated with claims regarding malpractice. According to the firms, the product will cover up to SG$100,000 for any one claim made against them by their clients, as well as expenses incurred in the defence or settlement of legal issues such as libel and slander, breach of confidentiality, loss of documents, and coroner’s enquiries.
This is in line with the recommendations released by the Tripartite Workgroup in February, which instructed the state and businesses to cooperate in providing freelancers with safety nets such as insurance and contract standards.
“I am pleased that we are offering insurance coverage to our freelance caregivers on our platform,” said Yeo Wan Ling, CEO of Caregiver Asia. “Many a time we have received feedback from caregivers that they want to be covered. We believe that building financial safety nets is an important piece for freelancers to practice their trades with peace of mind and would be an important catalyst to a more robust and healthy freelance ecosystem. With this coverage, our caregivers will be able to provide care with a peace of mind.”
Meanwhile, Ryan Cheong, managing director for strategy and transformation at Great Eastern said: “Caregivers play a vital role and are an integral part of the health ecosystem. We are very excited to be able to play a meaningful role to provide value to the community of professionals at Caregiver Asia.”
Ang Hin Kee, National Trade Union Congress’s assistant director-general and director of the freelancers and self-employed unit, lauded the move, saying: “It is very encouraging that Caregiver Asia has taken positive steps to better protect the interests of our professional caregivers who are mostly freelancers. I hope such a collaboration and product will help pave the way for other freelance occupations, so that more can also be protected by a suitable insurance product.”
