Insurance Advice for COVID-19
QBE Asia Property Position on Unoccupied Premises during Covid-19 Pandemic
In many property policies there is a condition on the unoccupancy of the insured premises. As a result of the government restrictions and orders we will not be applying this policy condition for the period of required closure by the authorities.
We also recognise that the enforced closures are not the sole reason for closure. If as a result of the impacts of Covid-19 you are still unable to resume operations and the insured premises remains closed, we are prepared to consider further waiver of the policy conditions upon written request from the insured.
Our intent is not to waive the conditions due to normal trading and occupancy during business as usual but recognise that these are difficult conditions for our customers and each case is different. Should any premises continue to remain unoccupied for a period of 7 days after any applicable restrictions are lifted we would consider any such property to be subject to the unoccupied building conditions.
If during the Covid-19 outbreak, the insured repurposes the premises to undertake different activities please have the insured contact the agent, broker or QBE for further discussion.
Having temporarily unoccupied buildings or businesses is not a desirable situation at any time. There are dangers that routine maintenance and management programmes are deferred and have the potential to increase frequency and severity of loss. There are however some basic steps that can be taken to reduce the hazards.
Read our Risk Management Guidance on Unoccupied Risks
Travel Insurance Arrangements
We’re working hard to support our customers whose travel plans are affected by the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus and to those who require further assistance when caught in an unfortunate circumstance.
QBE Hong Kong has put in place the following to help our customers during this critical period:
- Special arrangement has been made to allow our policyholders to change their original travel period to another until 31 December 2020 for the same destination and same duration of the insurance coverage, at no additional cost;
- In the event of any involuntary delay, we will extend a free 10-day coverage extension to your travel policy;
- For travels on or after 31 January 2020, medical expenses will be covered, provided the travel is not to areas issued with travel warning by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the Hong Kong government.
Insurance coverage for claims other than Novel Coronavirus Infection remains effective as per policy terms and conditions.
- Please keep all relevant receipts and documents for expenses related to claims, including but not limited to medical expenses;
- Where expenses can be refunded by the provider this should be pursued in the first instance, with non-refundable expenses covered subject to the terms and conditions of your policy.
Most importantly, we want you and your family to be safe so it’s important that you follow the advice of local authorities. We’ve also put together some Frequently Asked Questions to help with your travel insurance enquiries relating to the novel coronavirus:
Please stay safe if you need to travel or are already overseas. If you have a medical emergency situation when overseas, please call our 24-hour assistance hotline at:
As the circumstance is changing from time to time, we recommend you to refer to this announcement and the Frequently Asked Questions for our updates if any.