Insurance Guide

Chinese New Year is approaching fast, and as such, people are preparing to welcome the Year of the Pig in many different ways. With the belief that what you do during the Spring Festival will have an effect on your luck in the coming year, many people follow superstitions, some of which are given a modern twist. Cars, for example, are associated with quite a wide range of Chinese New Year superstitions, and as we all know, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to folk beliefs. To that end, today's article by our team at Kwiksure shares some of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to preparing your car for Chinese New Year, so good fortune stays with it and also with you throughout 2019.

While Hong Kong is a convenient city when it comes to public transport and daily commute, it may not be so ideal if you are traveling with kids. Just imagine the scene your child may make in a congested MTR compartment when there is a service delay or disruption (which seem to be getting much more frequent these days), or how difficult it is to grab a seat on a bus during rush hour. To that end, a car seems to be a necessity for new mothers and fathers. However, while driving with kids can be fun, it is also every parent’s responsibility to keep their children safe on the go. Before you get behind the wheel, Kwiksure will give you a few tips on how you can properly protect your kids in your car. Protecting your kids when driving Before we dig deeper into the motor insurance side of this subject, let’s go through how you can ensure the safety of your little ones while driving:

Sulfur frost, black ice, freezing drizzle, constantly falling snow, snowdrifts, and slippery surface - these are just a few attractions that await us on the roads during the winter trip outside Hong Kong. Hong Kongers’ popular winter destinations are Korea, China, and Japan. In fact, just a few months ago, one Japanese rental car company recommended tourists not to rent a car from them from November until March if they’re not familiar with winter road conditions. They stated that there was up to a 30% increase in car accidents involving foreign tourists in Hokkaido alone during winter months. Just in time to confirm the predictions, we heard of the recent news of a tragic collision of two Hong Kong citizens in snowy Hokkaido this Christmas Day. In light of the recent events, our team at Kwiksure decided to write a short guide on how to safely drive a car in winter and what to do in case of a car accident overseas.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) has officially opened on the 24th of October this year, after nine years of construction. The cost of constructing the 55 km bridge, as well as its surrounding link roads and artificial islands, is about a whopping $20 billion in total, and stretches 22.9km over the sea with a 6.7km underwater tunnel. While the HZMB is the world’s longest sea crossing, the bridge is not served by any public transport. Instead, private shuttle buses will operate the cross-border route. If a Hong Kong private car driver needs to use this mega link, they must complete all the necessary formalities, obtain valid permits, and meet the insurance requirements by the relevant jurisdiction(s). Basically, there are three options for a Hong Kong private car owner applying to cross the ZHMB. What can be quite tricky, however, is that the application procedures are all different, and by no means simple and easy. To that end, Kwiksure has prepared this downloadable and printable infographic to illustrate how it works in a more easy-to-digest and concise manner.

Most Hong Kong drivers should have experienced difficulty with parking in this cramped city. Sometimes we may end up parking on slopes when there’s no level parking space around. However, a fatal traffic accident in North Point last Monday came as an alarming reminder of the importance of parking safety. The accident took place when a school minibus careened down the street after the driver had exited the vehicle, colliding with pedestrians down a narrow street before crashing into a storefront. The minibus driver tried to stop the vehicle from sliding but was hit and dragged for 20 meters. He and other three victims remained in critical condition at the hospital. The tragedy has claimed the lives of four people and injured nearly a dozen in total. At the time of writing, the police had found no problem with the braking system of the school van and thus are focusing their investigation on whether the driver has applied the handbrake properly. In light of the accident, this week Kwiksure will offer some practical safety tips for parking on slopes.

Just last week, a serious deadly crash took place in Hong Kong where a shuttle bus smashed into the back of a stationary taxi on a highway, injuring 32 people and killing six, including the drivers of both vehicles. It was the city’s second such road accident in 2018, following a tragic bus crash in Tai Po in February that claimed 19 lives. The police stated that the coach driver had already worked for 10 hours when the accident occurred, and would investigate whether he could have been overworked or tired. This begs the question of how the physical condition of drivers will affect motor insurance claims. In today’s Kwiksure article, we shed light on the impact of chronic illnesses on motor insurance claims and premiums in Hong Kong.

Like many moms-to-be, you might also be planning one last stress-free journey before baby arrives and turns your world upside down. Whether you are only flying overseas for a weekend getaway, or planning longer holidays by the beach, make sure that you have valid travel insurance in place. And while we all hope that our vacations will go smoothly, mishaps do happen and can potentially leave you with sky high medical bills, lost flights, and extra accommodation bills. According to the recent consumer research awareness initiative by Travel Insurance Explained, many clients lack the knowledge about rules and regulations regarding traveling while pregnant. Concerned about this finding, today’s Kwiksure article is aimed at answering the most common questions pregnant travelers might have.

Unlike vast countries such as the U.S. or Canada, Hong Kong is such a tiny little city and it is rather unlikely that we would squeeze everything in and overload our cars during long-haul travels. However, overloading is not unheard of among commercial vehicles such as minibusses and trucks. For example, this May, a 71-year-old female minibus driver was arrested for cramming 25 passengers into her 19-seat minibus when the police carried out an undercover operation in northern Hong Kong, the SCMP reports. While carrying more goods or passengers can certainly bring more profits to the driver, it also raises both safety and insurance issues. In this feature, Kwiksure will take a look at how overloading vehicles break the law, endanger other road users, and potentially invalidate your insurance.

While we Hongkongers can enjoy the convenient public transportation system here every day, it can be more challenging if we were to travel around without a car in foreign cities. Thanks to the increasing availability of cars and the advent of technologies such as global position systems and smartphones, gone are the days when we had to join tour groups and wake up at 6 am to explore a new city. Instead, it is very common nowadays to go on a self-drive tour where you can travel at your own pace and truly enjoy the sense of freedom. Nonetheless, even with help from the latest gadgets, driving in an exotic locale can still be nerve-wracking and challenging. If you haven’t secured proper insurance coverage before you get behind the wheel, your journey could end up a financial disaster. To this end, our specialists at Kwiksure have prepared this article to give you a few tips on self-drive travel and rental car insurance .

Tesla cars gained their popularity in Hong Kong and around the world thanks to their modern design, ecological electric engine, and - in the case of base models such as the Tesla 3 - a (relatively) consumer-friendly price tag. Future savings on fuel and protecting the environment we live in are yet more perks of owning these revolutionary vehicles. On top of this, buyers in Hong Kong could enjoy a new-vehicle registration tax waiver on Tesla car models, which could save them as much as HK$355,500 in taxes. Yet the registration figures of new Tesla cars in Hong Kong are dropping; but why?

Online car quote tools, or car insurance calculators are of utmost value to those who are looking for car insurance in Hong Kong. Not only will such tools allow you to obtain a free car insurance quote, but if you know how to maximize the potential of car insurance calculators, using them can help you save money, too! In today’s article, Kwiksure will explain step by step how using a car insurance calculator properly can spare you extra costs on your car insurance premiums.

Life insurance ’s primary purpose is to protect your loved ones financially if you were to die during the policy term. According to LIMRA research , one out of three households would have financial difficulty within one month of a primary wage earner passing. The death benefit helps to cover costs related to the funeral, mortgage, etc., and allows your family or other beneficiaries to retain the same standard of living as before. There are two main types of life insurance policies: term life insurance and permanent life insurance, which are different in a number of ways, and both have their pros and cons. Since we, at Kwiskure , know that choosing the right type of life insurance can be complicated, we have taken the liberty of comparing these two life insurance options for you in today’s article.