Mechanisms
Medical/VHIS, CI, term/whole/universal life, participating savings, annuity—plus provision clocks, cooling-off, beneficiaries, group cover and underwriting/claims. Rules and question lists only. No yield floors, rankings, or named on-sale products.
Rule: Reimbursement cover: geography, network hospitals, deductible, day surgery, non-covered drugs, renewal. VHIS has Standard/Flexi plans; tax deduction follows current HK rules.
Exception: Waiting-period non-accident claims, and out-of-network/geo use without emergency/pre-auth, are common decline reasons.
Rule: Lump sum on diagnosed listed illnesses (or early CI)—not a substitute for medical reimbursement.
Exception: Waiting period, non-disclosure, exclusions, or definition mismatch can decline a claim.
Rule: Death/TPD within a term—align to mortgage, education and dependants years. Sum ≈ duty gap − existing group cover.
Exception: Pure term usually has no maturity cash value; renewal loadings and health changes need separate underwriting.
Rule: Guaranteed cash value is contractual; non-guaranteed dividends depend on investment, charges and smoothing. Illustrations have regulatory caps—not promises. Read 10y+ fulfilment trends.
Exception: Early surrender often far below premiums; early withdrawals cut principal/compounding; financed leverage amplifies rate risk.
Rule: Convert lump/recurring premiums into future cashflow—watch guarantee period, payout frequency, inflation assumptions and surrender value. For people who already have emergency cash and core protection.
Exception: Low liquidity; costly early exit; non-guaranteed payouts can vary.
Rule: Universal: flexible premiums/adjustable cover with unbundled charges—lapse risk if cash value cannot fund costs. ILAS: value tracks funds; you largely own investment risk. Depth → ILAS article and /learn/p5.
Exception: Hearing “flexible” as “stop anytime with no risk,” or ILAS as a guaranteed deposit.
Rule: Grace briefly keeps cover; with cash value you may hit APL, reduced paid-up, extended term or surrender. Loans accrue interest and cut death benefit; reinstatement often needs health evidence and may restart contestable clocks.
Exception: Assuming stop-pay keeps full cover forever, or that surrender returns all premiums paid.
Rule: Long-term cooling-off is commonly taught as 21 calendar days from earlier delivery of policy or notice; written cancel + receipt matter. Regular-premium often 100% refund; some single-premium/linked allow MVA. Replacement restarts clocks and adds costs.
Exception: Treating a verbal “cancel” as enough, or assuming a new policy is always an upgrade.
Rule: Primary beneficiaries take first; contingents take if none survive. Revocable vs irrevocable change rules differ. Accelerated living benefits may need consent. No living beneficiary can push proceeds into estate. Settlement may be lump sum, instalments or interest modes—check the contract.
Exception: Assuming a will alone overrides the nomination, or that someone who unlawfully caused death can still benefit.
Rule: Group master policies are held by employer/association—leaving can end cover. Personal underwriting may yield standard, loading or exclusion. Death/maturity/surrender need different docs; early death faces deeper review.
Exception: Assuming group cover follows you for life, or that surrender returns all premiums.
When to consider medical/CI/life/savings—priority education
Tool types by purpose—not an on-sale catalogue
Dividend, CV, VHIS, waiting period: definition → myth → ask
Mechanism education only—no pitch, no yield figures
Exam-shaped chapter map; optional for the public—verify against official texts
Term/UL/cooling-off/replacement/beneficiary capsules + deep links