Insurance Authority Levy on Insurance Premium
Since 1 January 2018, the Insurance Authority (“IA”) has imposed a prescribed levy, payable by the policyowner/policyholder#, on insurance premiums in accordance with the Insurance (Levy) Regulation and the Insurance (Levy) Order under the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41). In this regard, a policyowner/policyholder is required to pay the levy to the IA through the relevant authorized insurer each time when a premium is paid, and then the insurer will remit the levy payment to the IA. As stated in the law, if a policyowner/policyholder does not pay the levy as required, the IA may impose on the policyowner/policyholder a penalty of up to HK$5,000, and may recover the outstanding levy as a civil debt due to the IA.
The levy is calculated as a percentage of premiums on insurance policies. The levy rate starts at 0.04% of the insurance premium per policy year and will adjust gradually to 0.1% according to legislation. Generally, the amount of levy payable for each policy is subject to a cap per policy year. For the purpose of levy, Manulife’s individual insurance policies, group life insurance policies (without medical protection) and Occupational Retirement Schemes are subject to the levy cap for “Long Term Business”; while for group life insurance policies (with medical protection) are subject to the levy cap for “General Business”.
# Except for certain policies exempted from the levy by law.
Details of the levy rates and caps are set out below (amount in HK$):
| Policy Year Date, Policy Effective Date or Policy Anniversary Date | Levy Rate
|
Levy Cap (HK$) | |
Long term Business |
General Business* |
||
1 January 2018 to 31 March 2019 (both dates inclusive) |
0.040%
|
$40 |
$2,000 |
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 (both dates inclusive) |
0.060%
|
$60 |
$3,000 |
1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 (both dates inclusive) |
0.085%
|
$85 |
$4,250 |
1 April 2021 onwards (date inclusive) |
0.100%
|
$100 |
$5,000 |
*Group life insurance policies with medical protection will be subject to the levy cap for General Business.
If the policy currency is not in Hong Kong dollars, the levy cap as stated above will be converted to the policy currency at an exchange rate as determined by the Manulife from time to time.
For policyowners of individual insurance policies:
Starting from the policy year commencing on or after January 1, 2019, Manulife will collect levy from policyowners at the same time when premium is paid. The details regarding our arrangement for collecting levy from policyowners will be communicated to policyowners of individual insurance policies through the insurance application form or a notice in the form of mail / email / SMS message, depending on the commencement date of the policy. Please click here to know more about the details.
For policyholders of group life insurance policies and Occupational Retirement Schemes:
Manulife will continue to pay the levy on your behalf and remit in accordance with the arrangements prescribed by the IA, for a period as determined by us until further notice.
For further information, please contact our customer service hotline on (852) 2108 1188 or refer to the FAQ on our website.
Meanwhile, you can access IA's webpage (www.ia.org.hk) for further information on premium levy.
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