Rating and Underwriting 釐定保費和核保

Basic Rating Factors 釐定保費的基本因素

Rating is the process of determining the premium charged for cover. Travel insurance is normally rated by reference to the maximum duration of cover and the territorial limits: how long the policy can provide cover and the geographical area in which it applies. These are two basic details to check when comparing quotations.

Family Cover and Plan Differences 家庭保障及計劃差異

Who is covered also affects the premium. Cover for the insured together with one or more family members costs more than cover for the insured alone; including everyone in one policy does not mean that the premium stays the same.

An insurer may offer plans with different levels of cover. Different premium scales apply where those plans provide different benefit amounts and indemnity limits, so a premium comparison must also consider the cover being purchased.

Underwriting Single-Trip and Annual Policies 單次旅程與全年保單的核保

Under the practice described in this section, single-trip risks are not individually underwritten. For example, the insurer does not enquire into the proposed insured’s medical history as it would when underwriting a separate medical risk. Travel insurance underwriting is therefore largely confined to proposals for annual policies.

This explains the relatively simple application form: it mainly asks for details identifying the insured trip, the proposed insured’s age and similar information, rather than asking about material facts such as medical history. A shorter form does not mean that disclosure is limited to the information requested.

Active Disclosure of Material Facts 主動披露重要事實

A proposer has a legal duty to actively disclose all material facts. If a fact is material, it must be disclosed even when the proposal form does not ask about it. Completing every question on the form may therefore be insufficient to fulfil the duty.

For example, a material fact in the proposer’s medical history must be disclosed despite the absence of a medical-history question. Failure to disclose a material fact entitles the insurer to avoid the contract; this gives the insurer a right to act rather than making the contract automatically void.