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What should you be aware of when buying life insurance

04 Sep 2024

Life insurance is designed to cover the financial needs of your family, or dependants, if even the worst should happen. The Fidelity Global Sentiment Survey1 shows that 13% of Hong Kong respondents cite that obtaining life insurance and accident insurance related protections are their most pressing financial needs. If you are the breadwinner in your family, you should consider your need for life insurance.

1. Common types of life insurance in Hong Kong:

There are mainly three types of life insurance products in Hong Kong, according to the Investor and Financial Education Council:

Term life insurance: pays a lump sum upon your death if it occurs within the term of the policy.

Whole life insurance: generates a cash value and gradually growing non-guaranteed dividend during your lifetime. The policy will provide a lump sum benefit to your beneficiary upon your death. If you surrender your policy too early, the cash value and dividend recovered might not be sufficient to cover the amount of premiums paid.

Endowment policy: generates a cash value and gradually growing non-guaranteed dividend during the policy term. Some endowment policies even offer guaranteed dividends. The insurer will pay a lump sum on the agreed date if you survive or pay a death benefit if you die before that date. If you surrender your policy too early, the cash value and dividend recovered might not be sufficient to cover the amount of premiums paid.

2. Understand premiums

The premium of your life insurance is calculated by referencing various factors like age, health conditions, lifestyle choices (e.g., smoker, extreme sports enthusiast). These factors can affect the type of policy, coverage amount and your premiums.

If you are willing to give up a certain coverage amount, you may be able to lower your premium. The purchase of life insurance is a commitment over a long term with possible payment periods over 10 years, so you should consider if you can afford the payments over a long period.

3. Read the small print during cooling-off period

It is important for you to read the small print and make sure what is covered and not covered before you make a decision. Ask your insurer or insurance intermediary if you see something you don't understand.

It is required that new life policies come with a cooling-off period for policyholders to review the terms and conditions of their long-term insurance policies. The cooling-off period is normally 21 days. If you change your mind during this period, you can give a written notice to your insurer for a full refund of the insurance premiums.


The Fidelity Global Sentiment Survey 2023’s data collection, research, and analysis in regard to global employees and was completed in partnership with Opinium, a strategic insight agency. Data collection took place in July 2023. The sample consisted of 26,000 respondents with the following qualifying conditions: aged 20–75; either they or their partner were employed full-time or part-time; not all regions were asked about sexual orientation or gender identities (individuals that did not identify as either as male or female did not represent a statistically significant sample size and are not presented within this piece); a minimum household income of: Australia: AUD $45,000 annually; Brazil: BRL $1,501 monthly; Canada: CAD $30,000 annually; China: CNY ¥5,000 monthly; Denmark: DKK Kr.100,000 annually; France: EUR € 20,000 annually; Germany: EUR € 20,000 annually; Hong Kong: HKD $15,000 monthly: India: INR₹55,001 annually; Republic of Ireland: EUR € 20,000 annually; Italy: EUR €15,000 annually; Japan: JPY ¥1.5m annually; Mexico: MXN $4,500 monthly; Netherlands: EUR € 20,000 annually; Saudi Arabia: SARر.س.س4,000 monthly; Singapore: SGD 2,000 monthly; South Korea: KRW₩1.0m monthly; Spain: EUR kr€15,000 annually; Sweden: SEK kr200,000 annually; Switzerland: CHF CHf20,000 annually; United Kingdom: GBP £10,000 annually; United Arab Emirates: AEDإد.إ5,000 monthly; United States: USD $20,000 annually.

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