Your Hong Kong Business Insurance Options

Hong Kong has, historically, been seen as an extremely safe place to do business. However, just as in any city anywhere else in the world Hong Kong is not immune from risk. Businesses in Asia’s World City face a range of perils that they would find in any other country or territory worldwide.

From office break ins and stolen business equipment, through to claims of negligence and even employer liability, the myriad common risks facing every company in Hong Kong can be overlooked when it comes to instituting a comprehensive risk management tool set. For new companies and businesses with long and storied histories in HKSAR there is possibly no greater threat than assuming no safety net is needed.

Hong Kong business insurance products come in a variety just as diverse as the risks they are designed to protect against.

Hong Kong Office Contents Insurance

Most businesses in Hong Kong will have a physical office location or a retail store which they work with customers. Consequently, the obvious place to start when it comes to protecting a business from risks in Hong Kong is with the company’s physical premises. Office contents insurance, much like a home contents insurance policy for your apartment, protects the things inside a company’s physical location.

From business machinery and equipment, like computers photocopy machines or even servers, through to employees’ personal property that they may keep on site, an office contents insurance policy provides a comprehensive umbrella against physical loss from your office locations. A contents insurance policy can be invaluable for both white collar and retail operations, and many office contents insurance packages will provide assistance for recovery following a claimable event.

Hong Kong Office Contents Insurance is a great place to start when it comes to mitigating corporate risks, and can normally be tailored to the specific needs of a company.

Hong Kong Employees’ Compensation Insurance

Under Hong Kong law Employees’ Compensation Insurance is the only type of insurance that is a legally required purchase for every company, business, individual, and organization in the city paying staff to perform a job.

Also known as employer’s liability insurance, or workers compensation insurance in the USA, employees’ compensation insurance covers an employer’s liability (or responsibility) towards workers who suffer an injury or illness in the routine course of their employment. This is important because employers are expected to provide a safe working environment for staff, they are also expected to ensure that their workplaces have the proper and necessary safety procedures. However, even in the most serene accounting firm, accidents can and will happen.

An administrative executive could be making photocopies and accidentally trip over an exposed cable on the machine, causing themselves injury. Or, a sales executive could be filing paperwork, receive a paper cut, and get sepsis.

Accidents and injuries can occur in a variety of different ways and reasons, but if they happen on the job then it is assumed that the employer is responsible for some form of compensation. Employees’ compensation insurance exists to provide that compensation; while ensuring that companies and employers have adequate funds available at all times to cover their responsibilities.

Public Liability Insurance

Although public liability insurance is not mandatory purchase under Hong Kong law, most companies will find that possessing a public liability insurance policy can be extremely helpful.

This type of insurance protects against the liability risk of causing property damage, injury, or death to a third party. As with the injuries and accidents employees find themselves in public liability claims can occur for myriad different reasons in a diverse number of ways – it is impossible for any business to confirm that they are insulated and ready to prevent any potential accident.

Public liability insurance claims can be expensive and it’s for this reason that most public liability insurance plans in Hong Kong offer coverage in the 10s to hundreds of millions of dollars. Having to deal with a public liability claim, especially if it relates to your business’s negligence, is both costly and time-consuming before having to deal with any legal judgments or compensatory payments. Public Liability insurance can assist in all facets of a claims situation and protect an organization’s bank account from liability fees.

Professional Negligence and Errors Insurance

The risk of something going wrong isn’t just limited to the exterior, or physical nature, of your business. Mistakes can happen just as easily filing paperwork as they can on a construction site. If those mistakes lead to a financial loss of a customer, then the business is probably going to be responsible, or liable, for that error.

Professional Indemnity Insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance, or professional negligence insurance, is designed to protect businesses from mistakes made by staff. If a client claims that a worker has calls them to lose money either by a missed investment or an incorrectly file piece of paperwork then professional indemnity insurance is there to assist the business with the legal fees associated with fighting the claim, and any financial judgments that they may be required to pay as a consequence.

While professional Indemnity Insurance is not a required purchase for many industries, for companies or organizations and regulated spaces some form of errors and emissions insurance may be a legal requirement.

Commercial Goods Insurance

As one of the gateways to China, Hong Kong is home to a large number of manufacturing companies. Unfortunately, producing physical goods runs the risk of product defects and injuries occurring to the end user. It is for this reason that Amazon.com and a number of other large ecommerce websites require online sellers to obtain commercial goods insurance.

Also known as CGL insurance, or product liability insurance, commercial goods coverage protects a manufacturer against defects in the goods or materials that they’re delivering to market. If a business sells a product or make something that is defective then any organization or entity in the supply chain for that product could be involved in a lawsuit should an end user claim physical harm or financial loss due to the faulty product.

Commercial goods insurance can cover up to 1 million US dollars per recurrence and protect against a broad definition of damage including bubbly injury, property damage, personal injury, and contractual damage.

Manufacturing any physical goods that are being delivered to our end consumer is extremely risky without the proper insurance in place. Further to this, sellers with more than 10,000 US dollars per year in revenue may be contractually required to obtain this type of insurance in order to appear on various e-commerce platforms.

Business Insurance in Hong Kong

The types of insurance products we’ve illustrated above are just some of the many available business insurance options in Hong Kong. No matter what sector your company operates in. or what risks you are concerned about, there is an insurance product that is right for your requirements.

Whether that means that the expert brokers at CCW Global will have to create a bespoke product for you, or tailor an existing policy to your organizations unique needs, it is important that the decision makers and stakeholders at your business are comfortable that the risks you face are being effectively managed.

Whatever your business insurance needs are CCW Global global can help you to address any gaps in coverage and benchmark your protection against competitive market options. To request a free quote comparing a range of insurance products for your specific requirements please contact us today.

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