Understanding Travel Insurance

Points to note when buying travel insurance and making claims

Before applying for insurance

• Read the policy coverage and choose the insurance plan that best suits your needs:
  • Travel insurance is generally divided into two protection plans: a single-trip plan or an annual plan for multiple trips. You should estimate your travel frequency in the coming year before deciding which insurance plan to purchase. A single-trip plan covers one trip (the period covered is generally within 90 or 180 days of a trip), whereas an annual plan is purchased once a year and covers for all trips throughout the insured year. However, there may be a limit on the length of each trip (the period covered is usually 90 to 120 days).
  • Travel insurance offers individual or family protection plans. If it is a family trip, you can consider purchasing a family protection plan, but you should pay attention to whether the age of the elderly parents is over the upper age limit for coverage of the plan (e.g. aged 70 or 75), as well as the upper age limit for the accompanying children (normally aged 16 to 18). Some family plans may limit the number of accompanying children or lower the maximum coverage for the elderly and children.
  • Travel insurance may not cover high-risk activities. If you are planning to engage in high-risk activities, such as skydiving, diving and hot air ballooning, you should check whether these activities are covered in the insurance plan. These days, some plans provide protection for amateur sports or sports competitions, such as general overseas marathons and bicycle tours.
• Read the policy terms carefully and compare products:
  The market offers a wide range of travel insurance products. Apart from the coverage, you should also consider the benefit limit, and read the policy terms and conditions in detail before buying a product. And it is the best to compare different insurance plans before making buying decision so as to choose the one that best suits your needs.
• Understand the notes on making claims:
  You should first study the claim instructions and procedures to ensure a smooth claim process. The insured items and claim requirements in each policy are not exactly the same (e.g. the submission deadline, and the necessary documents, reports and certificates for each benefit). You should ask your intermediary or insurer if you have any questions.

Before departure

• Notify family members about your trip:
  You should give a copy of your insurance policy and the contact details of the insurer to your family members, so that they can contact the insurer and the 24-hour emergency support service provider for help on your behalf, if necessary.
• Handling trip cancellation claims:
  If a trip cancellation is due to an insured event listed in the policy, you must provide the relevant documents for the cancellation (e.g. medical certificate, or jury or witness summons), and you should keep the receipt of your booked air ticket and accommodation for submitting a claim. Generally, you should first request a refund from the relevant organization(s).

During the journey

• Take your policy with you:
  Take the policy (a paper or electronic copy) with you on your trip, so that you can check the policy coverage and number if needed.
• Keep the emergency numbers in hand:
  Keep the details of your insurer’s contact and 24-hour emergency support hotline in hand to call for immediate help, or so that people around you or medical staff can call the numbers if needed.
• Keep your receipts:
  Keep all receipts for your trip, including receipts for air tickets and accommodation, as well as boarding passes. Your insurer may request the relevant documents for proof that you travelled abroad.
• Obtain the required documents for making claims:
  In the event of an emergency or accident during your journey, make a report to the relevant organisations (e.g. police, airline) immediately, and keep the original copy of the relevant documents (e.g. police report or certificate of delay from a public conveyance) to submit the relevant documents when making a claim. For example:
  • If you lose something due to theft during your journey, you should make a report to the local police within 24 hours, and obtain and keep a detailed police report.
  • If you feel sick during the trip, you should seek medical treatment at your travel destination. You must obtain a signed medical certificate with the diagnosis and keep all prescriptions, medical reports and receipts.
  • If there is any delay or change in your trip, you must obtain the original copy of the report from the related public common carrier with the reasons for and duration of the travel delay, along with the original receipt for additional accommodation and an air ticket. You may first need to make a claim with the relevant organisation(s).
  • If there is any delay or loss of baggage during your trip, ask the relevant transport operator to issue a report or supporting document for the baggage delay or loss.
• Keep any damaged items:
  Keep any damaged baggage or other items. Your insurer may request a photo of damaged item as proof or the damaged item itself for inspection.

After arrival at Hong Kong

• Submit your claim as soon as possible:
  Complete the claim form as soon as possible, and submit the form with all the required supporting documents by the deadline (e.g. within 21 to 30 days after your return to Hong Kong), as stated in the policy.

The above information is for reference only. For the coverage, exclusions, benefit limit and premium levels of a specific insurance plan, please refer to the relevant policy terms.