A woman who slips while hanging laundry, burns herself cooking or is knocked off a motorcycle on the school run has no employer and usually no SOCSO cover. That gap is what LINDUNG Kasih is for, and at RM120 a year it is one of the cheapest forms of accident and invalidity cover in Malaysia. It is also widely misdescribed online, so everything below comes from the law and PERKESO's own documents.

Sources: the Housewives' Social Security Act 2022 (Act 838), the commencement notice P.U.(B) 509/2022, the amending order P.U.(A) 142/2024, PERKESO's scheme pages in English and Malay, its registration form SR1, claim form SR6, its FAQ and its portal user guide, all read on 13 September 2026. News reports are named where used.

The name changed, the scheme did not

The scheme was launched as the Skim Keselamatan Sosial Suri Rumah (SKSSR) when Act 838 came into force on 1 December 2022. PERKESO renamed it LINDUNG Kasih when it launched its LINDUNG brand on 22 August 2025, as BERNAMA reported. The forms still carry the old SR prefix, and the online portal is still at suri.perkeso.gov.my.

Who can join

The Act defines a housewife as any female, whether married or unmarried, who manages a household, on a full time basis or not. That expressly includes a wife, a divorcee or a widow whose marriage was registered, and any mother, including a single mother. Three conditions apply:

  • Citizenship: Malaysian citizens and permanent residents only.
  • Age: coverage ends at 55. A woman joining for the first time must be under 54.
  • Work: being employed does not disqualify her. Form SR1 has boxes for employed, self-employed and not employed, and PERKESO's FAQ says women in the civil service can contribute.

A woman with an existing illness can still register. Whether an invalidity claim is paid depends on the date a medical assessor fixes for the invalidity.

What it costs and who pays

RM120 covers twelve consecutive months, paid in advance. The portal also sells RM240 for 24 months. The Act bases this on a presumed income of RM600 a month.

The husband, the woman herself, a relative, an NGO or any third party can pay. There is one trap. A husband who elects to pay is bound to keep paying until she turns 55, they divorce or one of them dies, and failing to pay is an offence under section 15(11) carrying a fine of up to RM10,000, up to two years in prison, or both. If he loses his income he must tell PERKESO on Form SR5. Contributions are not refundable except where paid in error.

Cover for domestic injuries runs for twelve months from the time and date of payment. Invalidity cover lasts longer than the payment: 20 months of coverage for 12 months paid.

What counts as a "domestic injury"

Section 3 defines it as an injury caused by an incident "arising out of and in the course of managing her household including her family members", and not from any business or profession she runs. PERKESO's FAQ gives cooking, going to the market and taking children to school as examples, so cover is not limited to inside the house. The incident must happen in Malaysia and within the contribution period.

This is not 24-hour cover. A 2023 remark by a PERKESO officer describing it that way still circulates, and the separate LINDUNG 24 Jam scheme that began on 1 June 2026 is for employees, not housewives.

What it pays

  • Medical treatment at facilities PERKESO allots.
  • Permanent disablement: a lump sum of up to RM30,000 per contribution period, scaled by injury under the Act's Second Schedule, from RM300 for part of a toe to RM30,000 for the loss of both hands.
  • Morbid (invalidity) allowance: RM300 a month, which is 50% of the RM600 presumed income, until recovery, age 55 or death.
  • Constant attendance allowance: RM250 a month if she needs someone with her constantly.
  • Survivors' pension: RM300 a month in total, shared between the widower (until he remarries, turns 55 or dies) and her children, or to her parents if there is no widower or child.
  • Funeral benefit: RM3,000, paid once to dependants.
  • Physical rehabilitation: up to RM50,000, including prosthetics, and dialysis support of RM200 a month.

The funeral figure needs a note. The Act originally set RM2,000. P.U.(A) 142/2024, signed on 30 May 2024, replaced "two thousand ringgit" with "three thousand ringgit" from 1 June 2024, and PERKESO's scheme page shows RM3,000. PERKESO's downloadable SKSSR FAQ, read on 13 September 2026, still lists RM2,000.

There is no temporary disablement benefit and no education benefit in Act 838, whatever some explainer sites say.

How to register

  1. Create an account at suri.perkeso.gov.my and log in with the temporary password sent by email.
  2. Complete her profile, and the husband's details if he is paying.
  3. Under Caruman, choose Daftar Caruman, pick 12 or 24 months, upload supporting documents and pay by FPX. If the husband pays, he approves it from his own login.
  4. Download the receipt and registration letter, which carry her SRB number.

Alternatively, fill in Form SR1 at any PERKESO counter. PERKESO also lists appointed agents, including Co-opbank Pertama.

How to claim, and the deadlines

Claims use Form SR6, submitted at a PERKESO office or by post with her MyKad, medical certificate and report, bills and bank details. Under section 20 the deadline is 12 months from the date of a domestic injury and 24 months from the date she becomes invalid; PERKESO can accept late claims on reasonable grounds. RTM reported on 1 May 2026 that claims can now also be filed through the LINDUNG Faedah portal. Enquiries go to 1-300-22-8000.

The age-60 announcement

On Labour Day, 1 May 2026, Human Resources Minister R. Ramanan announced that the scheme's age limit would rise to 60, which RTM reported would benefit more than 720,000 women. On 12 May 2026 The Star reported that the change was a proposal in a PERKESO consultation paper that needs an amendment to Act 838. As of 13 September 2026, PERKESO's English and Malay scheme pages still say under 55. Until an amendment is passed and in force, a woman who has turned 55 cannot join.

Do not confuse this with EPF's i-Suri, a savings scheme with government matching. The Budget 2026 speech on 10 October 2025 raised i-Suri's eligibility age to 60. That is a different scheme, run by a different agency.

Is it worth RM120?

The take-up says most eligible women have not decided yet. BERNAMA reported 512,518 contributors in 2024, only 16.5% of housewives. The Human Resources Minister told Parliament, as reported by The Star on 24 June 2026, that 1,779 LINDUNG Kasih claims worth RM6.3 million were paid in 2025. Private insurance can be held alongside it, according to PERKESO's FAQ.

Related reads

*Cover image: PERKESO office, Kluang, by Dominic Nelson, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons*

*Read from Act 838, P.U.(B) 509/2022, P.U.(A) 142/2024 and PERKESO's scheme pages, forms and FAQ on 13 September 2026. Benefit amounts can be changed by ministerial order.*