All students who pay a composition fee are allowed to use the services of the University Health Service (UHS) according to their entitlements. Students who sustain injuries or incur sickness in the course of their University work are entitled to treatment at the UHS. This medical service does not cover students’ dependents. Private medical insurance is essential for dependents of international students.
Where injury or sickness occurs in Hong Kong but outside University premises (e.g. during field trips, project work or site visits), the normal UHS service is still available.
The facilities of the University Health Service are not available for mishaps sustained during fieldwork outside Hong Kong. The University has therefore arranged the insurance coverage for overseas medical expenses incurred by postgraduate students up to the limit of $25,000 under the Group Personal Accident Insurance Policy and $1M under the Corporate Business Travel Insurance Policy. To obtain reimbursement, a student who sustains injury must produce to the Finance and Enterprises Office the receipted medical bill (endorsed by a certified medical doctor with diagnosis indicated), together with a certification from his Head of Department that s/he is undergoing training activities arranged by the University at that time. For details on the insurance coverage, please contact the Finance and Enterprises Office at email address: “insurance@fo.hku.hk” or login to your Portal to find out more information about HKU’s Travel Insurance by following the path: Campus Information Services > Student Life and Resource > Financial Assistance.
In addition to the standard insurance coverage provided by the University, students may personally arrange additional coverage at their own expense. For any postgraduate student who is expecting the award letter from the Graduate School, due care should be taken in arranging travel insurance for his/her planned overseas trip supported by the University such as Committee on Research and Conference Grants (CRCG) and Travel Grants, as s/he would no longer be regarded as a registered student of the University once the award letter is issued by the Graduate School. The insurance company may reject those claims which relate to event(s) happened after the de-registration date. In order to ensure such students will have insurance cover during the whole traveling period, it is also recommended for them to make their own travel insurance arrangement instead of relying on the standard travel insurance cover provided by the University which would only cover the registered students of the University.
Students should note that the University does not insure any personal cash or property of students residing either in the University or in their living quarters. If insurance cover is required, the student must arrange this personally.