Driving in the Greater Bay Area: Ping An, Taiping poised to offer one-policy motor insurance coverage for Hong Kong, Guangdong
- Four major insurers plan to introduce a new type of policy covering the city and Greater Bay Area as they expect traffic to surge under a forthcoming scheme
- The new scheme will open up travel across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to an estimated 450,000 Hong Kong motorists
Four major Hong Kong insurers including the local units of Ping An Insurance (Group) and China Taiping Insurance plan to introduce a new “one-stop” motor insurance policy covering the city and Greater Bay Area as they expect cross-border traffic to surge under a forthcoming travel scheme.
Several smaller insurance companies are also planning to offer the new type of policy, according to the regulator.
Motorists will be able to apply to drive to Guangdong and stay for up to 30 days per trip, but not for more than 180 days in one year. Further details are due to be announced by the end of March, with the scheme to be implemented later this year.
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The easing of vehicle restrictions is part of the Hong Kong and mainland governments’ efforts to promote more cross-border traffic between the 11 cities of the Greater Bay Area, a vast economic zone encompassing Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong.
“It will be good to have such a new scheme as it is impossible for most car owners to do so at present,” said Dicky Lam, a motorist in Hong Kong. “It will also be helpful to have a one-stop policy. Hopefully it will not be too expensive.”
More than 10 insurers in all are ready to offer the one-stop policy, which the Insurance Authority referred to as “unilateral recognition” products, according to a spokeswoman for the regulator. She said these policies will provide “greater convenience and more comprehensive insurance arrangements to car owners.”
The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, an industry body representing 138 companies, will launch a portal providing information and details of the insurers offering such cover in due course, according to its CEO, Selina Lau.
China Taiping, established in 1929 in Shanghai and the mainland’s oldest insurance brand, has already started promoting the product on its website and WeChat account. Its products offer comprehensive coverage in both Hong Kong and Guangdong. They also include third-party liability in Hong Kong.
China Ping An Insurance (Hong Kong), the local unit of China’s biggest insurer, is developing a “one motor insurance policy” covering third-party liabilities for accidents in the Greater Bay Area excluding Macau, a company spokesman said.
Eric Hui, the CEO of Zurich Insurance in the city, said the firm is also working on a product to meet the need to make it “more convenient and potentially cheaper” for car owners as the quotas are removed.
Bernard Chan, chairman and president of Asia Financial Holdings, said its unit Asia Insurance is planning to offer a similar policy for the travel scheme, adding that “we are ready when the government is ready.”
The motor insurance business has been improving, with gross premiums rising 20 per cent to HK$4.11 billion in the first nine months of last year versus the same corresponding period in 2021, according to data published by Insurance Authority.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in December unveiled a road map for the development of the insurance industry, including a wide range of tax incentives and regulatory measures to turn the city into an insurance hub for the Greater Bay Area, the Belt and Road Initiative and projects related to climate change.
