Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2026-01-05
Disclaimer: This article is translated with the assistance of AI.
Hong Kong’s insurance market is thriving, offering a wide range of products beyond the popular savings-based plans. Wondering which policy suits your needs? The Bowtie team breaks down the most common insurance types in Hong Kong—with clear explanations to help you find the right coverage in just one read!
The Most Common Insurance Types in Hong Kong
- Medical Insurance
- Life Insurance
- General Insurance
- Other Personal Insurance Products
Medical Insurance
Medical Insurance refers to an insurance product that provides compensation for the insured person’s hospitalization, surgery, and other types of medical services expenses. There are two compensation methods: “as-charged” and “lump-sum compensation.”
- As-Charged Medical Insurance includes general medical insurance, Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) , and some accident insurance or company medical insurance. The first three are personal medical insurance purchased by the policyholder for themselves or their family, while the fourth is purchased by the company for employees. Depending on the policy terms and coverage, the insured person’s outpatient services, day surgery , diagnostic tests, surgery, and other expenses may be covered.
- Lump-Sum Compensation Medical Insurance , including some accident insurance and critical illness insurance . Depending on the policy terms and coverage, if the insured person suffers an accident leading to injury or death, or is diagnosed with a covered critical illness , they will receive one or more lump-sum compensations, amounting to 100% or less of the insured amount, to support their and their family’s living expenses during recovery or inability to work.
Life Insurance
Life Insurance is a type of insurance that provides a lump-sum cash compensation to the beneficiary upon the insured person’s death, including term life insurance, whole life insurance, savings life insurance, and investment-linked life insurance. If you want to learn about the differences between various life insurance types, you can read another article titled ” Life Insurance Types “.
Retirement protection products (such as annuities ) are also considered a form of life insurance, which similarly includes “death benefit “, but the primary purpose of annuities is to help the insured person plan for retirement. The insured can convert their savings into long-term, stable cash income, like a “permanent salary,” serving as a conservative income-generating tool.
General Personal Insurance
General personal insurance can include the following types, and you can choose based on your needs:
Home Insurance
Household furniture, appliances, and belongings can all be insured. The most common home insurance is the ‘Homeowners Comprehensive Insurance’, with coverage as follows:
- Loss of household items due to fire, explosion, burst pipes, theft, typhoons, and floods
- Compensation that the insured person and family members must pay for injuries to others or damage to their property caused by accidents or negligence
- Accommodation expenses if the home becomes temporarily uninhabitable due to an accident, requiring temporary relocation
To learn more about home insurance, read this article.
Car Insurance
Car insurance can be divided into ‘Third Party Only’ and ‘Comprehensive’. The former covers third parties, including passengers, but generally does not cover the driver or damage to your own car; the latter includes all ‘Third Party Only’ coverage and additionally protects against car damage from floods, fires, traffic accidents, or theft. If you want to learn more about car insurance, read this article.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance aims to provide coverage for losses incurred by the insured during travel, including:
- Flight delays
- Trip cancellations
- Loss of money and belongings
- Accidental death
- Medical expenses
- Damage or loss of luggage, and third-party liability
If you want to learn more about travel insurance, read this article
Other Insurance Products
In addition to the aforementioned and more common products, the Hong Kong insurance market also offers many coverages tailored to different special scenarios, such as Sport Insurance , Drone Insurance , Cruise Insurance , etc., which can protect athletes, personal property, and various travel situations.
What Insurance Do You Need?
Insurance products on the market come in various forms and can provide different types of coverage, but purchasing them without careful consideration can lead to surprisingly high premium expenses. If you feel a lack in coverage and don’t know where to start, we suggest you:
1. First, Purchase Health-Related Insurance
This includes Health Insurance / Voluntary Health Insurance , accident insurance, cancer insurance, critical illness insurance, and more.
Imagine if you unfortunately fall ill and have to bear substantial treatment costs; or even need to pause work for treatment, facing financial pressure—these insurance products can protect yourself, your family, and your personal assets.
Do I still need to get personal health insurance if I already have company health insurance ?
Many companies provide group health insurance for employees as a benefit to retain talent, and this type of insurance generally offers basic outpatient and inpatient coverage, sufficient for handling common colds, flu, and simple hospital procedures.
If you don’t have company health insurance, you should definitely get a VHIS / health insurance! Because if you unfortunately fall ill or need hospital treatment due to an accident, you will rely on personal health insurance to cover medical expenses.
If you already have company health insurance, you can think one step further: “ Is company health insurance sufficient? ”. You may consider purchasing Top-Up health insurance, which means adding another personal health insurance policy to your existing company plan to fill in the coverage gaps. If the insured unfortunately needs surgery and the medical costs exceed the company’s insurance payout, the Top-Up health insurance can cover the difference, so the insured won’t have to pay the large medical fees themselves.
If you want to learn how to choose a Top-Up health insurance plan, you can read this article in detail: Read article
2. Secondly, Buy Life Insurance
If you are a homeowner and the family’s breadwinner, you should consider purchasing Life Insurance .
When you and your partner buy a home together, and one of you passes away unexpectedly due to an accident or serious illness, continuing mortgage payments with only one income can become burdensome. A life insurance policy with a similar amount of coverage can provide a “death benefit” to help your spouse continue the payments.
If you are the sole breadwinner in the family, it is even more important to purchase life insurance to ensure that your loved ones can manage financially if you pass away unexpectedly.
As for whether you need to purchase Home Insurance , Motor Insurance , or Travel Insurance , it depends on whether you own the relevant assets.
What Products Does Bowtie Offer?
Bowtie offers a full range of products without agent commissions and without any savings component, making the premiums more affordable and providing better value for money. Additionally, Bowtie products use a monthly premium payment model, offering greater flexibility for customers.
| Bowtie Products | Coverage |
| VHIS | Reimbursement for eligible hospitalization-related medical expenses on an actual basis |
| Touchwood (Accident) | Reimbursement for eligible medical expenses arising from accidents on an actual basis |
| Cancer Fighter | Reimbursement for eligible medical expenses related to cancer on an actual basis |
| Term Life | A lump-sum payout upon the insured’s death |
| Critical Illness | A one-time or multiple lump-sum payouts if the insured suffers from a covered critical illness (depending on the plan) |
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