Claims tips – travel insurance

A: Generally speaking, as soon as you buy travel insurance, the coverage of the policy will start at the inception date, ending on the scheduled return date of your trip.

A: Yes. If you are diagnosed with serious illness or injury that requires hospitalization 90 days prior to your trip, with your doctor certifying that you are no longer fit to travel, you will be entitled to trip cancellation benefits. ^*

^*Excluding “pre-existing condition”.

A: No. Our travel insurance policy does not cover any circumstance which existed or announced before the effective date, or any pre-existing condition.

A: You could call Zurich 24-hour Emergency Assistance at +852 2886 3977 immediately. Our experienced coordinators will help based on your actual circumstances. To make a medical claim, please remember to obtain all the relevant documents to prove your medical expenses, such as medical reports and receipts.

A: Yes. If you are accidentally injured or become ill during the insured trip, the follow-up medical expenses within three months from returning to Hong Kong will also be covered.

However, please keep in mind that you must consult a doctor during the trip and obtain relevant supporting documents (eg. referral letter) and medical receipts to prove the need for follow-up medical treatment. Otherwise, there may be no coverage for medical expenses.

A: Yes. You can make a claim on Travel Delay through “e-Claim” if your overseas flight has been delayed^* due to the following covered causes:

• Strike or other industrial action;
• Riot, civil commotion, hijack, terrorism;
• Adverse weather conditions, natural disaster;
• Mechanical and/or electrical breakdown of the public common carrier;
• Airport closure, etc.

Furthermore, if your flight is delayed or canceled, we will reimburse the prepaid and unused expenses due to the journey interruption, which cannot be refunded from any other sources.

In addition, we will reimburse you for any reasonable and necessary expenses incurred for additional transportation and/or accommodation when you are returning to Hong Kong or traveling to your next scheduled travel destination.**

*Minimum flight delay hours required may vary depending on the policy, please refer to the policy terms and conditions for details.

** This benefit can be claimed once only for any one insured journey.

A: Yes. Our travel insurance will provide you with the coverage even if you visit multiple countries during your journey. But please remember to declare your travel destinations during the application.

If you have enrolled for an Annual Travel Plan, the maximum duration of the coverage for each trip is 90 days. It will recalculate if you return to Hong Kong and set off again (immigration procedures is required).

On the other hand, if you have enrolled for the Single Trip Travel Plan, the maximum duration of coverage will be 180 days.

Please note that whether it is a Single Trip Travel Plan or Annual Travel Plan, each trip must depart and return to Hong Kong.

A: An act of “terrorism” must be confirmed and announced to the public by the relevant government. However, it doesn’t include war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, insurrection, military force or coup, or any act with the use of nuclear engineering.

A: Unless you are directly participating in the terrorist activities, in general, our travel insurance will cover the accidental losses caused by the terrorist attack, including:

• Medical expenses
• Personal accident
• Damage of personal property
• Travel delay
• Trip curtailment
• Trip cancellation, etc.

A: If the affected location is your only planned destination of the trip:

You can cancel the whole trip and make a claim for Trip Cancellation. But your departure day has to be within one week after the terrorist attack occurred.

If the affected location is one of your planned destinations of the trip:

You can make a claim for Trip Cancellation for the city where the terrorist attack occurred (i.e. the forfeited travel ticket and/or accommodation). Your departure day also must be within one week after the terrorist attack occurred.

For example, if you have planned a trip to Europe but a terrorist attack occurs in Paris, we will compensate for the forfeited and non-recoverable travel ticket to and accommodation in Paris only. The travel fares for travelling to other cities in Europe will not be compensated even if you decide to cancel the whole trip.

For exact arrangement, please call our customer service hotline for further clarity.

A: Yes. If you encounter the following situations due to a terrorist attack, you can be reimbursed for the resulting losses and expenses:^*

1. You need to pay for additional traveling expenses due to trip interruption

If your original itinerary is affected by the terrorist attack and you decide to cut the journey short and return to Hong Kong, the additional traveling expenses will be covered under Trip curtailment.

2. You need to pay for additional hotel expenses due to travel delay

If the terrorist attack causes a delay in the public common carrier that you have booked, you can make a claim for the Travel delay allowance and the additional hotel costs or re-routing costs.

3. Your policy expires as you are unable to return to Hong Kong on schedule

If you cannot return to Hong Kong on schedule due to the terrorist attack, the travel insurance policy can be extended for maximum ten days without additional fee.

4. Your personal belongings are lost or damaged

If there is a loss of or damage to your personal belongings during the terrorist attack, we will compensate for the losses subject to the sub-limits of different types of personal belongings.

5. Your travel document or travel ticket is lost

If your travel document or travel ticket was lost accidentally during the terrorist attack, we will compensate you for the replacement cost of the relevant documents, and/or the additional travelling expenses and/or accommodation expenses incurred.

6. You are accidentally injured

If you are unfortunately injured, you will be eligible for compensation under the Medical and Personal accident coverage, along with additional benefits such as emergency medical evacuation, repatriation services, and more:

i. If you are injured in a terrorist attack, we will compensate for the medically necessary expenses incurred overseas and the follow-up medical expenses within three months after you return to Hong Kong from the insured journey;

ii. If the injury results in accidental death or permanent disablement within 12 months after the date of the accident, we will pay out the accidental death benefit or a lump sum benefit to the insured person based on different extents of disablement;

iii. If the insured person suffers from a serious injury during the terrorist attack and requests for emergency medical evacuation or repatriation to return to Hong Kong, at our doctor’s advice, please immediately contact our 24-hour Emergency hotline at +852 2886 3977. Our experienced coordinators will offer assistance based on your actual circumstances.

^*Subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions of the Policy.

A: It depends. Generally speaking, war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities, civil war, rebellion, insurrection, military force or coup are excluded from the policy coverage. However, if the Hong Kong Security Bureau raised an Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for your planned destination to Red or Black due to terrorist activity, you will be covered by our extension policy for OTA.

For details, please click here.

A: You must report to the local police within 24 hours upon discovery of the loss. If the luggage or personal belongings were lost or damaged while in the custody of a hotel or public common carrier, you must immediately notify the respective staff or organization.

Please also remember to obtain a written report from the local police or the relevant organization. Otherwise, the loss may not be covered.