SINGAPORE - About 949,000 Central Provident Fund members will get premium rebates from their Home Protection Scheme, after the scheme's investment returns did better than expected.

The CPF board said that about half of the CPF members can expect to receive $400 or more, with the rebates to be credited into eligible members' CPF Ordinary Account in November.

This is the fifth time the Board is distributing HPS premium rebates to members, with the last exercise carried out in 2006.

The HPS is an insurance scheme that protects CPF members and their families from losing their homes, in the event of death or permanent incapacity of the insured member before the housing loans for HDB flats are paid up.

CPF members must be insured under HPS if they use their CPF savings to pay for the monthly housing loan instalments of their HDB flats.

The CPF board said on Wednesday that "the rebates arise from better than expected investment returns and lower than projected claims experience."