Grab has announced a free Prolonged Medical Leave Insurance coverage for all driver-partners in the 'Diamond', 'Sapphire' and 'Ruby' tiers of Grab's Emerald Circle driver benefits programme. This is a first-of-its-kind insurance scheme in the industry, and automatically protects these drivers against the loss of earnings due to illness and injuries.

The new free Prolonged Medical Leave Insurance is in line with the Tripartite Workgroup on Self-Employed Persons' recommendations, encouraging companies hiring self-employed workers to have in place such insurance programmes in order to mitigate the worker's loss of earnings in case of prolonged injury or illness. This new insurance, underwritten by Chubb, is in addition to the existing free Personal Accident Insurance provided for all Grab drivers and passengers.

At no additional cost to them, drivers are guaranteed a daily benefit pegged to a percentage of their average daily earnings. This will be subjected to a minimum payout sum of $30 per day, up to $200 depending on their respective tiers. Grab will also be offering an exclusively priced insurance product for 'Emerald' tier driver-partners who wish to opt into the coverage scheme in the next few months.