The Answer in 60 Seconds

A tender that asks for "insurance coverage notes" wants evidence that the cover it is relying on exists: the buyer is protecting itself against the liabilities a supplier brings into its business. Send the document the tender names, for each class of cover it lists, in your company's name exactly as ACRA's Bizfile shows it. Know what each document proves. A cover note is the insurer's temporary cover: per the Singapore Academy of Law, insurers issue cover notes "to provide temporary insurance coverage prior to the existence of a binding insurance contract". For a commercial policy of 60 days or more, the premium must reach the insurer, or the broker that placed the cover, within 60 days of the cover starting, or the cover under the policy, renewal certificate or cover note ends automatically (GIA's Premium Payment Framework). So a cover note shows cover was granted, not that it will last - which is why a buyer can ask, later, for the certificate or the policy schedule.

The Sourced Detail

What a cover note is

The Singapore Academy of Law's chapter on insurance law (paragraph 24.3.4) puts it in one sentence: insurers issue cover notes "to provide temporary insurance coverage prior to the existence of a binding insurance contract". A cover note is cover from the insurer for the time it takes the contract to be completed. It is not the policy itself.

Why the premium decides whether it lasts

The General Insurance Association's Premium Payment Framework (1 September 2016) sets a warranty for commercial insurance. Where the period of insurance is 60 days or more, the premium due must be paid and received in full by the insurer, or the broker that placed the cover, within 60 days of the inception of the cover under the policy, renewal certificate or cover note. If it is not, the cover is automatically terminated immediately after the 60 days - without prejudice to any liability incurred within them. A buyer that has a cover note on file knows the cover started; it does not yet know the cover stayed.

The policy schedule

The schedule is the page that names your company, the period, the limits and the premium; the policy wording holds the terms. An insurer's own wording says how the two work: "This policy and the schedule shall be read together as one contract" (Etiqa, public liability policy wording). When a buyer checks a limit, it reads the schedule.

Work injury compensation: one more check

For WIC cover, the note or certificate should come from an MOM-designated insurer: since 1 January 2021 every WIC policy must be issued by a designated insurer and comply with MOM's compulsory terms (MOM). MOM publishes the list to check the issuer against: "Find a designated insurer that can provide WICA 2019 insurance policies" (MOM). For a WIC policy the compulsory terms set the same warranty with a period of 60 days, or a shorter one the insurer sets of not less than 14 days (WIC (Insurance) Regulations 2020, First Schedule, clause 14).

Who issues it

Your insurer, or the insurance broker that placed the cover. A broker's registration can be checked in MAS's Financial Institutions Directory, which lists the firms MAS regulates.

Common Mistakes

  1. Sending one note for three covers. A tender that lists public liability, work injury compensation and professional indemnity wants evidence for each.
  2. A name that does not match. The insured on every document should read as your company does on Bizfile.
  3. Treating the note as the end of it. Under GIA's framework, unpaid premium ends a commercial cover note's cover after 60 days.
  4. Sending the wording without the schedule. The limits the buyer is checking are on the schedule.

What This Means for Your Business

A tender's insurance ask is a short list of documents that each prove something different. Ask for the note or certificate for every class the tender names, check your company's name on each, pay the premium inside the 60 days (GIA), and keep the schedule ready for the buyer's next question.

Questions to Ask Your Adviser

  • Can you issue a coverage note for each class this tender lists, in our name as registered with ACRA, by the closing date?
  • When is the premium on each due, so the cover does not end under the 60-day warranty?
  • Does this tender's contract ask for anything the note does not show, such as the buyer named on the policy?
  • If the buyer later asks for the certificate or the schedule, how quickly can we have it?

Related Information

Published 27 October 2026. Source verified 27 October 2026.