Home Insurance is Important

In 2021, Hong Kong ranked as the 8^th safest city in the world. Crime here is rare, and violent crime is almost unheard of – with the exception of what seems like a raft of crimes over the last week of February 2023.

One of these was a burglary, resulting in the loss of HK$ 1.8 million in cash and valuables, and HK$ 960,000 in watches. The burglar scaled drainpipes leading to the 9^th floor of a building and had “ransacked” the flat. This is a rarity in Hong Kong, as many of the city’s burglaries are confined to single residence houses, rather than high rise apartment blocks with on-site security. But does show that this type of crime can happen to anyone, living anywhere in the city.

Although only 886 burglaries were reported in 2022, there is always a risk that you could be a victim of crime – even in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Home Contents Coverage

Home Contents Insurance, also known as Renters Insurance in the USA, is the most common form of Home Insurance in Hong Kong. This type of cover protects all the stuff in your home – your personal possessions, valuables, tools, and heirlooms.

One feature of Home Contents Coverage in Hong Kong is the existence of the “Worldwide All Risks” benefit. This is a fairly standard and easy to find benefit under renters insurance in Hong Kong, and protects your belongings anywhere in the world, no matter what happens to them. From laptop computers stolen out of taxis, to clothes and luggage going missing while you are overseas on holiday, the fact that worldwide all risks protection exists on Home Contents Insurance coverage gives policyholders a great deal of both flexibility and security.

Coverage for your personal possessions can be easily obtained, in most cases, for up to HK$ 7,500,000.

No matter what happens to your personal possessions, holders of a Home Contents Insurance policy can work with the insurance company and their coverage to file a claim and receive (at least) some compensation against their loss. It should be stated here that as a policyholder, worldwide all risks mean worldwide all risks unless an exclusion applies – and exclusions will vary when working with different insurance companies.

However, in the case of the recent burglary, the loss of the watches as expensive single items may run into the single item limit for standard home contents protection. For example, under many Home Contents insurance plans, Jewellery (including watches) will be capped per loss – often in the region of HK$ 50,000 per occurrence. Without specifying his watches, or specifically naming them for full value under the policy, the owner would be without protection for HK$ 910,000 of his HK$ 960,000 loss.

Simply put, this would mean the policyholder would likely not get full reimbursement for the loss of those items unless they have specifically named them in the policy, and paid a corresponding premium.

Hong Kong Collections and High Value Items Insurance

High Value items, like watches and other expensive jewelry, normally exceed the total coverage offered by many standard home contents insurance products in Hong Kong. Because of this, owners of pricey possessions and high value collections need to think about more specialized products.

Private Collections Insurance is easily obtainable with up to HK$ 20,000,000 for Private Collections, and a further HK$ 5,000,000 for specified Jewellery coverage. By obtaining extended home insurance coverage that specifically names things like artworks, or cigars, or even your priceless Comic Book and Magic The Gathering Card collection, you ensure that no matter what happens you are not losing your valuables.

Most high-value contents insurance in Hong Kong will provide for Reinstatement, Repair, or Replacement, before settling a monetary claim – so it is important that you read and understand the policy documents for any high value home insurance plan you may be looking at. This type of product also deals with things like “partial loss” vs “total loss” due to the value of the items being covered, and your premium may be increased without things like on-site security or video cameras.

While High-Value items insurance can be significantly more costly than a generic home contents insurance policy (depending on the items being insured), because of the value of these possessions, a claim can be more than just emotionally damaging – it can mean the end of an investment or an otherwise substantial financial loss.

Because of this, any individual who owns a private collection, of any sort, should consider having it insured.

Extra Hong Kong Home Insurance Benefits

Home insurance doesn’t just stop at the loss of your stuff. In Hong Kong it is possible to obtain a Home Insurance policy that covers:

• Credit Cards, Forgery and Counterfeiting: so even if your Credit Card details are compromised, you are not liable
• Identity Theft: If you are the victim of identity theft then you may be able to receive up to HK$200,000 under your home insurance policy.
• Golf Exposures: Some home insurance policies cover you against personal accident and hole-in-one risks on the golf course.
• Property Damage to others: If you accidently destroy someone else’s property then your policy can cover you.
• Loss caused by pets: Outside of scratching and denting, some Home Insurance policies cover you if your belongings are damaged by family pets.
• Rent you owe: If a covered loss occurs making your apartment uninhabitable, home insurance can pay the normal and reasonable expenses you would owe to your landlord while finding suitable accommodation or waiting repairs.
• Security Upgrade: Some Home Contents insurance plans in Hong Kong will even pay you to upgrade your home security at their direction!

Home contents insurance is actually an incredibly useful tool that can be tailored to your household needs. From coverage that simply protects your assets, fixtures and fittings, through to a more expansive form of protection that really thinks about covering you for the risks that would impact you actually living at home.

Home Insurance in Hong Kong

No matter what sort of apartment you live in, whether you rent or own, or if you’re in Stanley or Sai Kung, your home probably has things you care about in it. Things which you would be upset if they were accidently lost, damaged, or even stolen.

From the threat of a lithium ion battery exploding, starting a fire, and destroying everything in your flat, to that of being the victim of an actual burglary, as much as we would like to think that nothing bad is going to happen at our home, that often isn’t the case.

The best way to protect your home, and your personal possessions in Hong Kong is with a comprehensive home insurance policy. If you don’t know where to start, why not Contact Us and speak to one of our expert and knowledgeable brokers?

With our no-risk, no-obligation quotation process, you get to compare the market completely free of charge, and ensure that you’re only paying for the coverage you require.

Ask CCW – We’re Simplifying Insurance.