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I was asked about the outcome of my post “The Only Maid Agency I Will Ever Recommend is…” It was a post in February 2010.

Since CNY, I did not meet up with my friend who was supposedly looking for a maid. She sort of “forced” me to recommend a maid agency to try. Quite frankly, I don’t like to recommend any agency simply because not all maids will work out for all employers.

But, in that post, I was “arm twisted” to recommend one for her to try. That agency was so-called recommended because they really have a lot of testimonials from happy customers.

I was not sure whether she even tried that agency. Nevertheless, I called her up so that I can update my blog. I got a little bit of time today.

She told me not to put anything personal down, and I agreed. One reader asked which agency it was because there were two starting with the number “1″ in the CASE recommended list, and how to get to the website for more information.

Click on this link to go to CASE list, and then click on the first agency with the name “121″. The link there brings you to their website for more information.

(Disclaimer: you use any agency at your own risk. This article and the February article are NOT recommendations for that agency. I just report what I see and know. You decide your own action.)

So coming back…

Actually, I was quite surprised that my friend actually approached that agency because she did not indicate that she was looking for a maid during CNY. I asked why she never use my agency. She said she likes to keep certain things P and C from friends. I can understand that.

Anyway, I asked her whether the maid is working out for her or not.

She said one word. “Yes!”

She was very happy with her maid. In fact, she recommended her friend to that agency and it was working out for her friend as well.

I told her that they were lucky twice over. Normally, the friend who was recommended the agency won’t work out.

She said that that agency is really professional and is the most upfront agency she had ever used. She called them up expecting them to reject servicing her because that agency specializes in maid recruitment for expatriate families in Singapore.

The staff was upfront that they don’t have new Indonesian maids because for expatriates, they need experienced maids who can speak English. Moreover, these experienced maids prefer to have Sundays off, and may not be suitable if no days-off are offerred.

My friend was somewhat disappointed, but she decided to give it a try because that agency has many testimonials from happy customers. She also thought that it may be worth while to give days off to attract a good experienced maid.

The staff asked her about her needs and arranged “live” interviews for her to meet the girls face to face. My friend liked this part because she can actually see the person she was going to employ and can judge whether she likes that person or not. It is indeed different from employing new Indon maids where you talk to them over the webcam only.

She found that the agency really made an effort to match her needs as closely as possible according to their matching system. 1 or 2 maids were a little off, but overall, she was pleased with the quality of the girls she met.

I asked her what she didn’t like about the agency. She said it was sometimes difficult to get them on the phone. Maybe they were too busy. But, ultimately, they will try to call her back when she left voice messages.

What other bad things to say about the agency? She said the office is a bit small and it can be quite crowded because there can be a few employers and maids in the office when she dropped by.

Another negative point was that her friend complained to her that the agency forgot a form for her to sign and she had to go back to sign.

I asked her what she likes or finds different about the agency. She said the staff are not sales type of people, they just say things as they are. They are also very thorough on explaining the forms and procedures. Most importantly, she said, according to her woman instinct, she felt that the agency is honest.

I asked her how many stars does she give them, assuming 5 stars is the highest rating. She said 3.5 stars.

I asked why. She said 5 stars is impossible because that means perfect. 4.5 stars is too high because the real test is when the maid does not work out - does the maid agency service you as well as a new customer and not “hide” from you. Her maid is working out well.

Then, why not 4 stars? She said no agency can have all the maids work out for all employers, and so she felt that 3.5 stars is good enough for a maid agency.

And so, I rest my case…

With effect from 1 January 2010, the medical insurance coverage of domestic helpers, FDWs or maids will be increased to $15,000, instead of the usual $5,000 coverage.

Needless to say, the insurance premium would also increase to reflect the higher cost of insurance. Across the board, the general increase is in the region of $50 to $100.

This is pretty much in line with the reduction in government assistance for foreign workers in general in terms of medical expenses. At the same time, this also helps reduce the risk of employers of maids. Why do I say so?

In my line of work, I’ve come across some unfortunate cases whereby the employers had to bear substantial cost, in the region of $20,000 to $50,000 depending on what happened to the girl.

One case, in particular, was really unfortunate. A helper had severe stomach pain and was diagnosed with ****. (To protect the privacy of my clients, I will not be revealing any details and I may modify some of the facts. However, the key points and facts will remain as they are.)

But, what was shocking was that the girl had to undergo a major operation and she had to be hospitalised for a significant period of time. The medical bill was estimated to be in the region of $35,000.

To make matters worse, the illness was diagnosed to be a pre-existing medical condition. As such, it was not covered under the insurance plan.

As a side note, so that you understand why a pre-existing medical condition is generally excluded automatically - the rationale is that no insurer will take on anyone, for instance, with cancer. Nor, would anyone with cancer, declare that he has cancer because no insurer will take him up.

So as to reduce the general cost of insurance, the pre-existing medical condition exclusion is instituted across the board for practically all insurance types, including maid insurance. This is because, if the insurer knows that the incumbent has cancer, they will either increase the insurance premium significantly or not take on the case at all.

So, coming back to the case. Basically, my client had to bear all the medical cost of the maid since it is one of the MOM conditions of employment for the maid.

Needless to say, if the case wasn’t that of a pre-existing condition, there will be a coverage of $5,000 under the old insurance scheme. With the new scheme, the coverage will be $15,000.

At least, my client will be covered for $15,000 under the new scheme.

However, there are also insurance plans with higher coverage which she could have opted for under the new insurance plans which may well cover all her exposure to her maid being sick.

All in all, the new insurance scheme seeks to reduce the risk of employers of maids. However, it also increases the cost of employing a maid. Unfortunately, if the maid has a pre-existing medical condition, no amount of insurance can help.

Perhaps, to reduce their risk significantly, employers should consider having their maids undergo a full body checkup before employment and not the current partial checkup. Now, that may be something to think about if a few hundred dollars of expenses maybe able to prevent tens of thousands of dollars of heartache later on…