Bought the wrong insurance? You could be paying for nothing. Read the 6 common travel insurance claim rejection traps.

The Insurance Complaints Bureau has recently announced that it received a total of 857 complaints relating to travel and medical insurance in 2025, representing an increase of approximately 32.7% year on year. At the same time, recent reports of a Hong Kong resident studying in the Philippines falling ill and having a claim rejected, together with Cathay and Hong Kong Express cutting flights due to fuel surcharges, have drawn public attention to the cover and policy terms of travel insurance.

Behind the complaint figures lies a deeper issue: consumers often assume travel insurance is straightforward and does not require close scrutiny, only to discover, when something goes wrong, that the policy terms contain numerous grey areas. 10Life has carried out an in-depth analysis of six common claim rejection pitfalls to help the public truly understand what they are buying before departure.
 

Among the 447 cases concluded by the Insurance Complaints Bureau, 124 complainants ultimately received compensation, involving a total compensation amount of approximately HK$13.6 million. As travel patterns change, hybrid travel (such as study tours and working holidays) has become increasingly common, creating a gap between such trips and standard travel policies and increasing the risk of claims being rejected. 

Trap 1: Standard travel insurance does not cover study trips or working holidays

Most travel insurance policies provide cover on the basis of “pure leisure travel or business travel”. Trips for the purposes of study, volunteer work or working holidays are usually not covered. Insurers generally assess the overall trip by its “primary purpose”; even if you hold a travel visa and the itinerary includes plenty of leisure activities, a claim may still be rejected if the main arrangement is regarded as study.

10Life advice: For study trips or working holidays, you need to purchase specialised insurance, such as “Overseas Study Insurance” or “Working Holiday Insurance”. Do not assume that standard travel insurance is sufficient. Before purchasing cover, you may proactively ask the insurer in writing to confirm whether the nature of your trip falls within the policy’s definition of cover.  

Trap 2: If a flight cancellation is a “commercial decision”, the insurer will not pay out

The “trip cancellation” and “flight delay” cover under travel insurance generally only applies to force majeure events such as severe weather, natural disasters or mechanical failure. If an airline cuts flights due to fuel prices or operational considerations, this is a commercial decision and falls outside the scope of cover.

10Life Recommendation: If flights are cut, first ask the airline about refund and free rebooking arrangements; when booking flights, you may choose flexible fare types to make future itinerary changes easier.  

Trap 3: Flight delay terms vary significantly, which can affect claims

“Flight delay” may seem straightforward, but after analysing 14 major travel insurance policies on the market, 10Life found that different insurers use different calculation methods, which directly affects whether a successful claim can be made:  

As stated above, QBE only counts “departure delay”. If a flight departs on time but is delayed during the journey, it will generally not be eligible for a claim; whereas the minimum triggering period for Blue Cross, MSIG and Prudential is 5 hours, which is lower than the industry’s commonly seen 6 hours. In addition, most policies stipulate that when connecting flights are involved, the delay time for each segment cannot be accumulated. Flight delays must also be caused by specified reasons (such as adverse weather, strikes, etc.) in order to trigger cover. 

10Life Recommendation: Before taking out cover, verify how delay is calculated, especially for itineraries involving multiple flights or transfers. Be sure to understand whether delays for each segment can trigger a claim independently. 

Pitfall Four: Medical expenses must first be claimed from medical insurance, with travel insurance only covering the shortfall

Many consumers assume that once they purchase travel insurance, they can directly make a claim if they fall ill and are admitted to hospital أثناء their trip. In fact, some travel policies contain a “coordination of benefits clause”, which stipulates that the policyholder must first claim against other medical insurance (such as company medical insurance or Voluntary Health Insurance) and that travel insurance will only reimburse the portion not covered by the other policy.

For example, if you are bitten by a mosquito while travelling and contract dengue fever, requiring hospitalisation, even if you have travel insurance, you must first claim from your own medical insurance. Only the remaining medical expenses not reimbursed can then be covered by the travel insurance. This not only makes the claims process more complicated, but may also result in missing the claims deadline if the policy terms or procedures are not properly understood.

10Life recommends: Before taking out cover, read the policy terms carefully to understand whether a coordination of benefits arrangement is in place. If you already hold other medical insurance, it is advisable to check in advance with the relevant insurer about the claims procedure and the order of claims, so as not to affect the final compensation.

Pitfall Five: High-risk activities and amateur sports — injury claims may easily be rejected 

In general, travel insurance policies usually list “high-risk activities” as exclusions. Common excluded activities include extreme sports (skydiving, bungee jumping, rock climbing), winter sports (skiing, or requiring additional cover), water sports (scuba diving requiring a licence), e-scooters or balance bikes, as well as competitive sports (marathons requiring separate specialist insurance).

Another grey area that is easily overlooked is the distinction between “amateur” and “professional” activities. If a traveller receives any form of remuneration — including prize money, sponsorship fees or endorsement fees — the insurer may regard the activity as professional in nature and refuse the claim.

10Life recommends: If your itinerary involves any sports or physical activities, verify before purchasing cover whether the standard policy provides protection, and check whether additional cover is required.

Trap 6: War and Civil Unrest — Coverage is More Complex Than It Seems

Travel insurance generally excludes losses caused directly or indirectly by war. However, after reviewing major policies available on the market, 10Life found that some products include “notwithstanding” policy clauses which, in certain circumstances, may override the original war exclusion clause. The key lies in the “timing”, namely when the Red/Black Outbound Travel Alert is issued.

If the HKSAR Government issues a Red or Black Outbound Travel Alert within seven days before departure, or after departure, the special clauses in some policies may mean war-related losses can still be eligible for compensation. In other words, if the destination was still considered safe when you departed (i.e. no Red/Black Alert had been issued), but war or civil unrest suddenly breaks out during your trip, you may still be covered.

There are also two important details to note:

• “Known risks” are not covered 
  If the Outbound Travel Alert had already been issued before you purchased the policy or before you made your travel arrangements, the insurer will regard it as a “known risk”, and any related losses will not be compensated. Do not rush to buy insurance only after an alert has been issued in the hope of obtaining coverage.
• Non-war-related incidents may still be claimable 
  Even if you are in a conflict zone, if you suddenly fall ill locally or need hospitalisation, as long as you can prove the incident is not directly related to the war (for example, food poisoning or an accidental fall), the relevant medical expenses may still be claimable.

10Life recommends: if you are travelling to a region with political instability, you must read the policy wording carefully and check the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) level before buying insurance; do not rely on guesswork. Once your trip is confirmed, arrange insurance as soon as possible, and take a screenshot of the alert level on the day of purchase as important supporting evidence for any future claim. If you have any questions about the scope of coverage, you should proactively make a written enquiry to the insurer. 

Many consumers focus only on the premium when purchasing insurance, overlooking key details such as the definition of the scope of cover, exclusions and additional terms, which greatly increases the risk of a coverage gap when something goes wrong.

The coverage differences among plans on the market are quite significant. Products with similar premiums can offer vastly different actual benefits, and premium levels are not necessarily proportional to the level of cover. Sometimes, even a low premium can still come with fairly comprehensive cover, so it is worth spending a few extra minutes comparing the benefits before you travel. The 10Life platform currently features more than 70 Hong Kong travel insurance plans, allowing the public to compare options by destination, trip type and activity type, and choose the cover that best suits their needs.

This English version of this article has been generated by machine translation powered by AI. It is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between this translation and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.