More people put insurers in line of fire

A Hong Kong man who travelled to London and was robbed by a man pretending to be a police officer failed to collect on his insurance claim.

The case was among incidents that have been highlighted by the Insurance Claims Complaints Panel.

The panel had found the insurance firm was justified in rejecting the claim since the case was related to fraud rather than a robbery with violence.

It was one among 479 complaints received by the panel last year - an 18 percent increase on 2011.

Nearly half of the complaints involved people needing hospital treatment or other medical care and travel insurance policies.

And 66 people with complaints collected a total of HK$2.85 million in compensation from insurers.

The highest single award was HK$287,000 paid after an elderly man died of bladder cancer three years after taking out a life insurance policy.

The insurance firm initially refused to pay out after his death, saying he had failed to disclose an existing condition.

His widow lodged a complaint with the panel, which noted that the elderly man was only diagnosed as suffering from bladder cancer 11 months after the policy's effective date. So the insurer had to settle with the widow.

Panel chairman Michael Tsui Fuk- sun said people must check policies thoroughly and understand the terms.

"If policies do not clearly state the conditions, we will refer to usual understanding and explanation of the words," he added.