MediSure Plus covers ‘Targeted Therapy’ costs up to the maximum limit.

Early detection and effective treatment offers patients the best chance of beating cancer. Advances in cancer research have led to new therapies that offer hope to many cancer sufferers, but not all insurers will cover the associated costs.

Traditional Chemotherapy is generally delivered intravenously and is not very specific. The drugs may reach those parts of the body that are diseased, but usually go elsewhere too causing unwanted side effects. On the other hand, Targeted Therapy is generally delivered via oral agents and aims to be very specific about the parts of the body that are treated. This can improve overall effectiveness and reduce unwanted side effects. However, the expensive cost of Targeted Therapy drugs might deter patients from seeking treatment.

Learn more about our insurance plans: MediSure Plus healthcare insurance plan covers the cost of the Targeted Therapy ‘as charged’, up to the maximum limit of each plan, under the Hospital & Related Services Benefit, rendering all-round protection which helps the patient to fight cancer. This is a valuable benefit that you may want to consider when selecting a health insurance plan.

CriticalCare 1.0
MediSure Plus
HospitalCare

Neon signs of all shapes and sizes are a common sight in the prosperous city of Hong Kong. If any of these neon signs are damaged by a typhoon, would a shop/business insurance policy offer sufficient cover? 

When a typhoon blew through Hong Kong in July last year, the neon sign hung outside Mr. Lui’s shop was destroyed by the strong winds. As Mr. Lui had taken out shop insurance, he filed a claim for the loss with his insurance company, but it was rejected. 

Why did Mr. Lui’s insurer reject his claim? 

The insurer rejected Mr. Lui’s claim on the grounds that his shop insurance only covers the property inside the shop which belongs to him or for which he is responsible, including all shop contents, fixtures and fittings, deeds, documents and stock etc. As the damaged neon sign was hung outside Mr. Lui’s shop (the insured premises), it did not fall within the insurance coverage and therefore the insurer rejected his compensation. 

Many shop owners may have misunderstood that all the property related to their business is covered by their shop/business insurance and also assume that “external property” like neon signs and all types of signage are also part of the contents and are therefore covered by the same policy. However, shop contents in shop insurance only refers to those properties normally kept inside the shop premises. If the shop owners would like their shop insurance to also cover the neon signs outside their shops, our advice is they should discuss with their intermediaries to extend their cover to include “external property” with an additional premium. 

Learn more about our insurance plans:
SME Protection Bundle
Office Insurance
Shop Insurance
Business Insurance

Neon signs of all shapes and sizes are a common sight in the prosperous city of Hong Kong. If any of these neon signs are damaged by a typhoon, would a shop/business insurance policy offer sufficient cover? 

When a typhoon blew through Hong Kong in July last year, the neon sign hung outside Mr. Lui’s shop was destroyed by the strong winds. As Mr. Lui had taken out shop insurance, he filed a claim for the loss with his insurance company, but it was rejected. 

Why did Mr. Lui’s insurer reject his claim? 

The insurer rejected Mr. Lui’s claim on the grounds that his shop insurance only covers the property inside the shop which belongs to him or for which he is responsible, including all shop contents, fixtures and fittings, deeds, documents and stock etc. As the damaged neon sign was hung outside Mr. Lui’s shop (the insured premises), it did not fall within the insurance coverage and therefore the insurer rejected his compensation. 

Many shop owners may have misunderstood that all the property related to their business is covered by their shop/business insurance and also assume that “external property” like neon signs and all types of signage are also part of the contents and are therefore covered by the same policy. However, shop contents in shop insurance only refers to those properties normally kept inside the shop premises. If the shop owners would like their shop insurance to also cover the neon signs outside their shops, our advice is they should discuss with their intermediaries to extend their cover to include “external property” with an additional premium. 

Learn more about our insurance plans:
SME Protection Bundle
Office Insurance
Shop Insurance
Business Insurance

A spectacular day of activities was held to celebrate Hong Kong Harbour Day on 18 November – a bi-annual event which included everything from round-the-island sailing, water-skiing, a windsurfing demonstration and a Harbour Day parade.

Question:
Many of you already know that bodily injury, death or disability caused by the insured person "engaging in a sport in a professional capacity" or "any kind of race (other than on foot or swimming)" is excluded from personal accident insurance. Are insured persons who participate in activities such as wakeboarding, surfing, windsurfing or diving covered by personal accident insurance? Which dangerous sports are excluded from personal accident insurance policies?

Answer:
The eligibility of insurance cover depends on the nature of the insured's participation in the abovementioned activities. If the insured participates in or practises wakeboarding, surfing or diving just for fun or as a pastime only, then any bodily injury, death or disability arising from these sporting activities is generally covered by personal accident insurance or otherwise specifically excluded. 

Unlike travel insurance, there is no definition of "dangerous sports", apart from those activities stated in the exclusion of the policy, such as parachuting, hang-gliding or rock climbing. Other activities are covered by personal accident insurance.

Even if people who participate in sailing and windsurfing activities during Harbour Day are amateurs only, as this still constitutes a race, they may not be covered by personal accident insurance.

Personal accident insurance is not tailor-made for professional sportsmen. As such, if you regularly engage in sporting activities in a professional capacity or participate in races, you are advised to take out a sportsman's policy which is specially designed to cater to the needs of full-time or part-time athletes. 

Because medical expenses benefits under a general personal accident policy might be relatively limited, it is highly recommended that you should take out an extra medical Office/Busines Package cover to suit your individual needs.

Learn more about our insurance plans:
Personal Protector 3.0

Public transport related accidents have occurred frequently in recent years. In particular, minibus accidents, where passengers were thrown from the vehicle leading to death or severe injury, have recently come under public scrutiny. A few years ago, a female passenger was seriously injured after being thrown from her minibus seat into a 10-metre deep canal. A 26-year-old male passenger thrown from the rear seat of a taxi was also injured.

Question:
Could personal accident insurance protect victims against such accidents?

Answer:
Definitely. Although the victims are liable to be fined for failing to fasten a seat belt, such an act is not considered as an illegal act which generally refers to criminal offences.

In the unfortunate event of an accident, the victim will suffer heavy losses both physically and financially. Therefore, we encourage you to wear seat belts regardless of the length of the journey.

Learn more about our insurance plans:
Personal Protector 3.0

In the event of medical emergencies overseas, our service pledges are: always to act in the best interests of the insured; and to provide an emergency contact and treatment approval out of office hours.

An employee of a company insured with our Group Medical Plan suddenly felt dizzy and fell down when he was walking up a slope during his business trip in Vietnam. This caused traumatic brain and spinal injuries. With the doctor’s declaration and approval, the patient was safely repatriated back to Hong Kong by an Air Ambulance with escort doctor and nurse and conveyed to Queen Mary Hospital for immediate treatment 4 days after the accident.

We strive to offer the best for the insured but the above example illustrates that there are some significant points that you should be aware of in order to obtain the evacuation protection. First, it is very important that the patient is proven to be safe to fly with the medical report and ‘Fit to Fly' certificate issued by the attending medical practitioner. Without such a declaration and certificate, the emergency repatriation cannot be arranged. This will be made clear to those who call the 24-hour emergency hotline, but it is a vital travel tip that is worth sharing with you in advance.

Second, the Air Ambulance service is not provided on a regular basis. Therefore, we may not be able to arrange immediate service but can in turn arrange for a commercial aircraft to be equipped with emergency medical facilities. In fact, emergency medical facilities and services are of consistently high quality for both commercial aircraft and Air Ambulances. It is because we always act in the best interests of the insured so as to ensure that you are provided with comprehensive services of the best quality.

Third, when arranging taking off and landing of an Air Ambulance or refitting an ordinary commercial aircraft to become a medical evacuation plane, time is needed for coordination with different parties for obtaining sanction and deployment. Yet we know every minute counts. We guarantee that we will make the necessary arrangements as fast as we can.

The coverage of emergency evacuation is provided under all our Group Medical Plans, only subject to the territorial limits of services stated in each particular policy. Customers are advised to check their policy before the trip.

Learn more about our insurance plans:
CriticalCare 1.0
MediSure Plus
HospitalCare

The spate of falling windows has highlighted the danger of loose and corroded aluminium window frames and provoked a public debate on making regular window inspection mandatory.

There is a widely held misconception among the public that a tenant will not be responsible for anything that happens to the flat, and that only the owner of the flat bears that liability. However, cases such as falling window panes demonstrated that one would be held liable in the event that one's own negligence caused third party injury or property damage, regardless of whether one was a tenant or an owner. A case in point is if it is proved that the window was being improperly used and fell as a result of overload from hanging wet clothes by the tenant, it is likely that the tenant will also have liability towards any third party victims.

In fact, a tenant and an owner have very different sets of obligations and perhaps, it would be useful to remind you of two insurance terms usually found in a home insurance policy. 'Owner's liability' refers to the legal liability of the insured as a landlord and part owner of the common areas of the building. 'Tenant's liability' protects the tenant's contractual liability under the tenancy agreement for damage caused by fire, explosion and storm. As such, both a tenant and an owner have a need to take out a home insurance policy in order to make sure that they are properly indemnified against unforeseen events or mishaps under the 'Personal Liability' section.

One would also ask, if he or she is an owner but leases the flat to others, will he or she be insured under the 'Household Contents' section?

As the home is not occupied by the owner, insurance cover will be restricted to fire and perils such as explosion, lightning, earthquake, typhoon... as listed in the policy. Therefore, a generic home contents insurance may not cover all your needs as a landlord, and you may want to also consider the Landlord Protector insurance policy which provides comprehensive insurance coverage for a landlord including liability cover as well as loss of rent.

Learn more about our insurance plans:
Home Protector
FamilySurance Plus 4.0
Mortgage Fire
HelperSurance 4.0