【Immigration Insurance】Take notice of coverage & benefit

【Immigration Insurances】How should we manage our insurance policies before and after immigration?

Immigration refers to the situation that the policyholders change their place of residence to a new country or region and become a "permanent resident" of that country. Since the countries or regions covered by different insurance products vary, the coverage of the insurance purchased might not be appropriate after immigration. Therefore, before immigration, we should pay attention to whether the existing insurance products are still applicable, and whether the insurance products we are going to purchase can satisfy our needs afterwards.

Check the area of cover of insurance products before immigration

Before immigration, you must take notice of whether the area of cover of the insurance product includes the country or region that you will be immigrating to. Only when you are at the area of cover can you enjoy the benefits. Moreover, before the purchase of insurances, you have to pay extra attention to whether appropriate coverage will be available when you stay aboard. Regardless of immigration or travel to any country or region in the world, all Bupa insurance products will continue to provide policyholders with the coverage stipulated in the scheme. Some Voluntary Health Insurance Schemes may even offer higher-level medical coverage according to the regions where the policyholders are staying. For instance, Bupa Hero VHIS provides generous cover anywhere in Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, as well as popular countries for immigration in the world* such as the United Kingdom and Canada. Meanwhile, the policyholders can enjoy international support services such as "Non-emergency Global Health Support¹"and "Free Bupa Worldwide Assistance Programme^２".

Bupa Hero VHIS Detail

Countries Covered by Bupa Medical Insurances

All Bupa's insurance products (except Bupa Hero VHIS & International Health Plans from Bupa Global)
Coverage stipulated in the plans	Worldwide

	Bupa Hero VHIS (Core, Advance or Deluxe)	Bupa Hero VHIS (Core Pro, Advance Pro or Deluxe Pro)	International Health Plans from Bupa Global
Standard medical coverage under VHIS	Worldwide
Higher-level medical coverage	Asia and Australia Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, etc.	Worldwide* UK, Canada, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, etc.	Worldwide* UK, Canada, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, etc.

The above information is for reference only and is updated from time to time. For details, please refer to the terms and conditions of individual insurance products.
*Worldwide excluding the United States. For eligible expenses covered under the certified plan but incurred outside your chosen area of cover, benefits shall only be payable according to the VHIS Standard Plan Terms and Benefits. Please refer to the Policy for details.

^１To locate suitable doctors, arrange medical appointments and support language translation either when you are in need overseas, or plan to travel for treatment.
^２To provide admission deposit in the event of hospitalisation overseas and in China, unlimited cover for emergency medical evacuation and repatriation, and an extra hospital benefit of HK$120,000 after repatriation to Hong Kong. A 24-hour hotline for travel, medical or legal information and assistance are also available.



Bupa Hero VHIS Detail

Will my original policy be cancelled after immigration?

The policyholder needs to notify the insurance company and update the information before immigration. For general insurance products, it is stated that you may be subject to underwriting after immigration, depending on the original area of cover. In other words, the policy may not be affected by your immigration eventually, or it may be cancelled due to the invalidation of the coverage and benefits after immigration. Therefore, you are highly recommended to notify the insurance company in advance and learn more about the impacts brought by the change of residence before immigration.

However, regarding to a certain countries for immigration, some insurance companies may refuse to continue to insure the policyholder in accordance to the terms of the policy. For example, in case the policyholder is going to immigrate to the United States, Japan or Puerto Rico, Bupa shall stop offering the coverage and benefits immediately or in the next contract year according to the relevant policy terms.

If your chosen country does not belong to the area of cover, you can first check whether the existing policy is able to provide sufficient coverage, or you may need to change the insurance plan in order to obtain suitable coverage.

Will the coverage or benefit limit of the insurance be adjusted or even reduced after immigration?

As long as the policy is still in effect after immigration, the relevant coverage and benefit limit will remain unchanged. Nevertheless, certain benefits or rights which are limited to Hong Kong may be affected. In addition, policyholders have to pay attention to the differences in the medical systems, welfare and fees among various countries or regions. It is hence recommended to collect the information about the country you are going to immigrate in advance, then review and consider whether the coverage of the existing policy is sufficient. The terms of the policy may have to be adjusted so that you can acquire the most comprehensive and appropriate protection. In particular, the charges of medical treatment in some countries are relatively high, so it is especially important to take the lifetime coverage and the annual benefit limit into account. Moreover, you need to take note of whether the services provided by the public medical institutions in the destination of your immigration are suitable, as well as checking whether the insurance products can offer your desired benefits.

For the medical expenses incurred overseas after immigration, the insurance company will require the policyholder to submit the original medical bills and official receipts for making a claim via mail, and to receive the relevant sum of money through a Hong Kong bank account. In the meantime, you are recommended to keep a Hong Kong correspondence address or provide an email address for communications ³with the insurance company, and to ensure your chosen payment method remains effective to prevent the policy from invalidation.

³Please refer to “Service of notices, etc.” at Clause 127, Division 3 from the webpage.

What will be the losses if I apply for policy surrender before immigration?

It will depend on the terms of the policy. As an insurance company specializing in medical insurance, Bupa generally provides insurance products that expenses are reimbursed as incurred, without savings, investments or other cash values. As a result, the impact of policy surrender will be relatively small. However, you shall carefully consider before surrendering a policy as your medical records and increase of your age during the suspension of insurance may lead to increase of premiums and exclusions, and your application may be rejected due to the suffering of certain illnesses when you decide to purchase a new insurance policy in the future.

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