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27 August 2025

Hong Kong’s Weather and Why You Need Home Insurance

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The summer of 2025 in Hong Kong has highlighted the exposure of the city to weather.

On August 5th 2025, HKSAR was drenched with the heaviest daily August rainfall in History. With more rain since 1884 (when records start), the downpour drenched the territory, prompting a citywide “black” rainstorm warning and shuttering schools, clinics and courts. With torrents flooding streets and even hospital areas, by 2 p.m. that afternoon more than 350mm of rain had had fallen.

This was the fourth “black” rain alert in eight days, another record. Unfortunately, just days later another “black” warning was hoisted for the fifth time since late July as intense downpours returned.

These events aren’t just inconvenient; disrupting your life and forcing the city to come to a standstill. They are reminders that that extreme rain, landslips, and extensive flooding and water damage are now regular features of the wet season in the face of global climate change.

A woman with a purple umbrella stands in front of an estate agent in the rain

Understanding your Weather Risks in Hong Kong

When the Hong Kong Observatory issues a black rainstorm signal, it means extremely heavy rain is falling (or expected to fall) over the city at a rate exceeding 70 millimeters in an hour.

The sheer volume of water can overwhelm drainage, and cause leaks through weak seals, window frames, and balconies. Understanding this threshold helps explain why ordinary maintenance sometimes isn’t enough to stop water ingress during the worst bursts.

But record rain attracts attention, and it’s not the only exposure homeowners face.

During the recent weather events in Hong Kong, police investigated burglaries that exploited the fact extreme conditions were hitting the city. Media reports detailed a luxury house in Redhill Peninsula losing around HK$400,000 worth of items, while a separate series of restaurant and bakery break-ins during severe weather netted about HK$80,000 before an arrest was made. Opportunistic crime tends to spike when streets are quiet, visibility is poor, and residents are distracted by a storm.

Simply put, when weather hits Hong Kong there are a number of risks that come into play and it is important to be as prepared as possible against every eventuality.

A satellite picture of a typhoon from space

Home Insurance in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, when we talk about “home insurance” we’re referring to a broad term that splits into cover for your possessions, and cover for the physical structure of a property you own.

Contents insurance, as the name suggests, protects what you own inside your home. This includes things like furniture, electronics, clothing, and personal items. Under many Home Contents Insurance products, this coverage can typically be offered on a “worldwide all risks” basis. This means accidental, or unforeseen losses, inside and outside your home are covered unless an exclusion applies.

On the other side of this is Fire Insurance, also known as “Fire and Allied Perils Insurance.” Fire insurance protects the physical structure of your property against a named risk. Fire Insurance is often required by banks for mortgaged properties. But it is important to understand that this type of coverage only responds to losses where the proximate cause is a covered peril, named in the policy.

Understanding the differences between Home Contents Insurance and Fire and Allied Peril insurance in Hong Kong is going to be critical in protecting yourself from the weather risks impacting your home.

A woman walking down a Hong Kong street in the rain with an umbrella

Fire Insurance and the Weather

Under Insurance, claims depend the loss being caused by a covered risk.

If you own a Fire Insurance policy on your home, and if a fire causes your sprinklers to go off soaking your living room in water, then a fire insurance policy is still able to provide cover because the initial cause of the loss (the thing that saw the sprinkler system to activate) was fire. However, if heavy rain drives water through windows flooding your apartment, a basic fire-only policy will likely provide no assistance due to the simple fact that the covered loss was not in play; there was no fire involved.

This is not semantics. Understanding how your policy will cover a loss, and how insurers create the language in their contracts, is critical when it comes to protecting yourself from Hong Kong’s weather risks.

As such, and because storms, landslips, and flooding are regular weather-related risks in Hong Kong, many property owners elect to extend their Fire Insurance coverage to “Fire and Allied Perils” protection, or even upgrade completely to Property “All Risks” coverage. Broadening the covered risks under a fire insurance policy to include hazards like water damage, typhoons and windstorms, landslip and subsidence, and even earthquakes, can give you critical peace of mind that your property is protected even in the face of the worst weather the city has to offer.

While more comprehensive cover carries a higher premium, it is often the only way to insure the real risks your structure faces in Hong Kong’s climate

Picture of a Hong Kong Fire Station

Every Day Protection with Home Contents Insurance

If you don’t own your Hong Kong home, then Home Contents Insurance is going to be the mainstay in your property risk management toolset. There are myriad Home Contents Insurance options in Hong Kong, and a number of products will cover your personal possessions both inside, and outside your home, on a “worldwide all risks” basis.

With coverage including theft following forcible entry, water damage from burst pipes or driving rain that penetrates into your apartment, and even protection for damage to fixtures and fittings you may have had installed in your capacity as a tenant, Home Contents and Renters Insurance ensures that no matter what happens, your personal belongings are protected from accidental loss or damage (subject to the policy’s definitions, limits and exclusions).

Households with significant art, watches, wine or other unique collections should consider policies that blend household contents insurance with specialist collections cover. These collections and art insurance policies can insure loss or damage to works, newly acquired items, pairs and sets, and even costs for repairs, restorations, or emergency evacuation of the collection. Many features apply worldwide, which is useful if part of a collection is on loan or kept abroad, and they typically sit alongside generous protection for general contents and alternative accommodation if your residence becomes uninhabitable.

A hong kong apartment, with the window looking out onto a city skyscape

When rain turns to claims: linking insurance to black rain events

A black rain warning doesn’t automatically trigger insurance, but it helps establish the context of an event; a piece of evidence that extremely heavy rainfall was occurring at a specific time and place. When water enters through seals, or over thresholds, during a black rainstorm warning, having the right “allied perils” or “all risks” extensions on your property insurance coverage become crucial. Without the correct coverage, your policy may not respond even during the most intense downpours; simply because it only covers fire risks.

The key is matching your policy’s insured events to the perils that a 70 mm-per-hour storm, or a Typhoon, creates.

Further to this, the same storms that keep you indoors can give cover to thieves. Reports this year included a luxury home burglary in Redhill Peninsula and a string of weather-era break-ins at eateries, with arrests following. While contents policies usually cover theft after forcible and violent entry, limits for cash, jewelry and portable electronics can be tight unless you schedule items and declare them to your policy. If your residence is left unattended for extended periods during evacuations or travel, check how your policy defines “unoccupied” and whether any special conditions apply during typhoon or black rain periods.

The IFC building covered in dense rainy fog

Insuring Your Weather Risks in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s rainfall records this August, together with the run of black rainstorm warnings, confirm what the 2023 deluge already hinted: extreme rain is no longer rare. Pair that with opportunistic crime during severe weather and the case for comprehensive home cover becomes practical, not theoretical. The right blend of protection, contents cover with sensible limits and scheduled items, plus building insurance extended for water, wind and landslip, turns uncertain seasons into manageable claims.

The city’s weather won’t wait; your home insurance protection shouldn’t either.

Ask CCW – where your insurance is always Swift, Simple, and Sorted.

About Author

Michael Lamb is an insurance industry professional with many years of experience within the Hong Kong Insurance market. Focusing on APAC coverage issues, Michael is able to provide extensive analysis and insight to a range of pressing topics. Previously, Michael provided insurance broker Globalsurance.com with their most highly valued articles and was a key influence in the development of all the content on Pacificprime.com, Michael has a passion for insurance matched by few others in the region.

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