What Insurance should you consider for a relocation?

An international relocation is possibly one of the most stressful activities a family will ever encounter. Having to organize the logistics of shipping all your personal possessions overseas, ensuring that your family is safe and protected when you arrive at your destination, and hoping that nothing goes wrong along the way is a nightmare.

Thankfully, there are a number of insurance products that exist to help you navigate any challenging international move, no matter where you are going.

Home Contents Insurance can simplify your move

Home Contents insurance is the obvious starting point for insuring any relocation away from Hong Kong. A Hong Kong Home Contents Insurance policy offers extremely robust insurance protection for your personal possessions; both inside and outside your home.

In fact, if you have an existing Home Contents insurance plan in Hong Kong then your personal property may already be protected on a “worldwide all risks” basis. Worldwide All Risks coverage under a Hong Kong home insurance plan means that your property is insured against any accidental loss or damage anywhere in the world.

Additionally, some Hong Kong insurance companies will also allow you obtain home contents insurance on multiple properties around the world as long as your Hong Kong residence is included in the coverage. This allows for an exceptional level of policy flexibility as a single insurance plan is able to protect your possessions in multiple homes around the world; removing the need for you to take out additional insurance each and every time you move.

However, while worldwide all risks coverage protects your possessions against accidental loss or damage, many home contents plans will specifically exclude items that are being professionally shipped overseas from coverage. This means that while you may be able to have your laptop covered under a home contents insurance plan during a relocation (because you’re likely going to be carrying it with you on the plane), your sofa being shipped via a shipping company, would not be protected under the home contents plan should anything happen to it.

Marine Cargo protects your possessions

Normally the realm of shipping agents and brokers, Marine Cargo Insurance is often overlooked by individuals relocating away from Hong Kong as part of their move. While it is called “marine cargo” insurance, Shipping Insurance products actually cover Sea freight, Air Freight, and inland transit or overland freight shipments.

A lot can go wrong when moving goods from one part of the world to another. From Fires and explosions, to shipping vessels becoming stranded, capsized, or having cargo washed overboard, there are a large number of risks your property faces if you decide to ship it overseas with you when relocating.

The idea of marine cargo insurance in Hong Kong can be a bit scary, which is why many people don’t think to consider this type of protection as part of their move. But in reality, setting up an insurance policy of this type is actually fairly simple – even if you are not utilizing the services of a relocation company (like Crown or Santa Fe). Simply create a list of all the items you will be shipping along with an approximate value for each item.

For more expensive items you will normally need to provide proof of value in the event of a claim’s situation. Otherwise, the list you have created is simply given to the insurance company and is used as the basis for the bill of lading. Once the bill of lading has been issued the insurance company will then issue the policy, and your property will be protected from the moment it leaves your apartment until it arrives at your destination address.

Marine cargo insurance has its cost based in the total amount of coverage required, and the distance the shipment will be traveling. So, more items and a longer journey will often mean a larger premium.

Don’t forget to insure yourself and your family

Getting your belongings safely to another country is often the primary focus of any relocation, but what about ensuring that you are also able to make it to your new home safely?

The Trip itself can be a headache

Travel insurance can be a vital component in effectively protecting yourself against the risks associated with an international relocation. From cancelled or re-routed flights, delays in your journey, lost and stolen passports, personal possessions, and even luggage, Travel Insurance is a simple, cost-effective solution to a majority of the risks you will encounter just trying to get to your destination country.

Added to this are the extended personal accident and liability benefits found on travel insurance coverage, and the limited medical protection afforded by most of these policies, and a single type of insurance product is able to afford you and your loved ones with a comprehensive safety net against the worst possible outcomes.

While travel insurance is typically designed to cover an outward and return journey to the same location, it is possible to obtain one-way travel insurance products under single trip coverage options that will protect you for the exact length of time needed to leave Hong Kong and arrive at your new home.

What will you do if you fall sick in your new country?

Depending on where you are moving to, healthcare in your new country of residence could be very expensive. Or it could be extremely cheap through the public healthcare system but, being a new arrival, you have not been resident in the country long enough to qualify for public services.

Not knowing what to do, or having to worry about the costs of healthcare after having just undergone a major, life altering international move is added stress that you don’t need. Although travel insurance offers limited health insurance protection to assist with your medical costs should you require treatment while overseas, most Hong Kong travel insurance plans are designed to provide immediate emergency treatment and get you back to Hong Kong for the remaining care.

Obviously, this is not ideal if you are relocating away from Hong Kong and have just left the city.

International health insurance is the perfect way to ensure that you and your loved ones are protected against the costs of medical treatment no matter where in the world you may go, or if you should need to relocate again. A single continuous policy is designed to protect you as long as you need it, whether you’re living in Hong Kong or have moved to reside elsewhere in the world.

International health insurance is more expensive than local Hong Kong health insurance options, but these policies normally have the benefit of being both internationally portable (subject to local regulations in your destination country) and guaranteed renewable. With an existing policy and claims procedure, should you get seriously sick or suffer a major accident upon arriving in your new home country, your existing health insurance plan is already in place to support the costs of your treatment as and when you need it.

What Relocation Insurance do you need?

Relocating is a complicated issue. There are many parts and variables to consider, and unfortunately no single insurance product exists to cover all the risks you may face in moving to a new home.

While the products we’ve mentioned above are the best starting place to protect yourself and your loved ones if you are considering relocating away from Hong Kong, there is considerable overlap between the types of insurance we’ve talked about here.

As such, it is important to properly sit down and consider exactly what protection, and how much of it, you need for your relocation. Maybe you will sell all of your household possessions before departing Hong Kong, and are returning to your home country.

In this case, a simple travel insurance plan may be the best solution – covering you for your return journey home. But if you are an expatriate family traveling from Hong Kong to Singapore, then the options and choices you have to make just got far more difficult.

If you are planning a relocation away from Hong Kong and would like to discuss your insurance coverage options with an expert Hong Kong Insurance broker, please Contact Us today. Alternatively, if you would like a free quotation for a relocation insurance quote in Hong Kong, simply complete the short form at the top of this page; one of our brokers will contact you directly to discuss your needs and the coverage solutions that best meet your specific requirements.