【Accident Insurance Comparison 2025】Which provider offers better physiotherapy and dit da (traditional bone‑setting) coverage? Which accident insurance pays the most? (Includes exclusive actuary ratings)

Amateur footballers twist their ankles while playing and break into a cold sweat from the pain, children crash and split their eyebrows requiring stitches, office workers rushing for a minibus twist their ankles and the swelling makes their high heels impossible to wear... Accidents happen frequently, so many sports enthusiasts, parents, and even white-collar workers consider personal accident insurance to be prepared for emergencies. Personal accident insurance covers medical expenses caused by accidental injuries, and some plans even include physiotherapy and traditional bone-setting treatments. 10Life compares over 40 personal accident insurance products on the market and provides actuary ratings. This article will compare different products based on factors such as physiotherapy and bone-setting coverage, and explain 10Life's scoring criteria. 

Accident insurance covers medical expenses arising from bodily injuries caused by accidents. Many people often confuse medical insurance and accident insurance. Medical insurance covers illness and accidents and generally requires hospitalization to make a claim; as the name implies, accident insurance only covers accidents, hospitalization may not be necessary, it usually has no deductible, and the claims process is generally simpler.

Common situations covered by accident insurance:

• Sports injuries (sprained ankle or fractures)
• Everyday accidents (children falling at home and getting injured, being scratched by pets)
• Traffic accidents (being hit by a vehicle and injured)

Many people use physiotherapy after an injury. Although public hospitals charge only HK$80 to HK$135 per session, because so many people are waiting for the service, each patient’s waiting time tends to be longer, so patients may not receive immediate care.

By contrast, private physiotherapy clinics charge HK$800 to HK$1,200 per session. Although the fee per session is not that unaffordable and patients usually do not need to wait long, it often requires multiple sessions, sometimes more than ten, to complete the whole course of treatment, which can add up to over ten thousand dollars. Therefore, the coverage that accident insurance provides can be useful in this regard. 

The compensation mechanism for bone‑setting treatments is the same as for physiotherapy; you should note the annual sum insured, the per‑visit limit (if any), and the number of covered visits (if any). The typical fee per bone‑setting session in the market is HK$250 to HK$500. 10Life identified the five accident insurance products with the highest bone‑setting coverage ratings, as shown in Table 1: products from ZhongAn Life and Bao Tai Life have daily bone‑setting coverage limits of HK$300 and HK$500, respectively, and received a perfect score of 10 for bone‑setting coverage.

In accident insurance, physiotherapy and bonesetting (dit da) compensation mechanisms are similar, each having a separate annual compensation limit. Therefore, if a policyholder is particularly concerned about a specific treatment method, they should pay attention to that treatment's compensation limits, such as the per-treatment compensation cap, the number of treatments per year, and the annual compensation limit.

Physiotherapy on the market costs about HK$800 to HK$1,200 per session. 10Life, referencing market fee levels, identified five accident insurance products with relatively comprehensive physiotherapy coverage. As shown in Table 2, under the assumed physiotherapy scenario above, the products from Prudential, Hang Seng, and Blue Cross can fully reimburse, so they receive a full score of 10 for physiotherapy coverage.  

It is worth noting that most accident insurance policies require the insured to obtain a recommendation from a registered doctor or hold a referral letter before receiving treatment from a registered physiotherapist. If consumers choose accident insurance to cover physiotherapy expenses, they should consider the following three key points:

1. Do you only need physiotherapy? If multiple types of treatment are required, a higher medical expense limit may be needed;
2. How much does physiotherapy usually cost? If it is relatively expensive, consider accident insurance that does not impose a per-session physiotherapy reimbursement limit;
3. How frequently will you seek physiotherapy? If you are more prone to sports-related injuries, consider accident insurance that allows a higher number of reimbursable sessions or does not specify a session limit.

Consumers sometimes cannot tell the difference between inpatient medical insurance, outpatient insurance and accident insurance. Medical insurance requires the insured to be hospitalized in order to receive reimbursement of actual expenses, and the cause does not have to be an accident. But when the insured suffers a relatively minor accident that does not require hospitalization — for example a sprain treated with physiotherapy or a bonesetter (dit da) visit — the insured cannot claim under medical insurance; this is when accident insurance can be very useful. As for outpatient insurance, outpatient visits are covered whether they are caused by illness or accident; some products even include physiotherapy or bonesetter treatment, but the annual limits are lower and the premiums are higher than those for accident insurance.

When purchasing any insurance, you need to understand its claims mechanism. Accident insurance generally sets an annual medical expense limit (Medical Expense), which is the total protection for all covered types of treatment. In other words, whether it is physiotherapy, bonesetter treatment or other covered treatments, they will all share this limit. For example, if the annual maximum compensation is HK$10,000, and the insured had two physiotherapy sessions at HK$800 each and one bonesetter visit of about HK$300, the remaining limit would be HK$8,100.

10Life actuaries, when analyzing personal accident insurance products, selected four major coverage categories (accidental death and dismemberment, medical coverage, physiotherapy coverage, and bone‑setting coverage), and scored over 40 products individually, then calculated the total score by weighting. From Table 3, we can see that the top five personal accident products by total score each have strengths across the four coverage categories; no product currently leads in every category. Therefore, when choosing personal accident insurance, policyholders may need to make trade-offs. 

Many people purchase accident insurance because they are concerned about medical expenses arising from sports injuries, or because they want to try higher‑risk activities such as skiing or scuba diving while traveling. It is worth noting that accident insurance imposes certain limitations on covered sports; most policies will not cover professional sports, and some activities — for example skiing, scuba diving, and skydiving — may also not be covered. Table 4 lists the coverage status for various sports. 

Besides age, occupation also affects accident insurance premiums; some occupations may even be excluded. Premium levels are generally arranged from low to high according to the following 4 types of jobs: first are indoor, non-manual jobs such as clerical staff, administrative personnel, teachers, doctors and lawyers and other professionals; second are indoor or outdoor jobs requiring light manual labor, such as salespeople and food and beverage workers; third are indoor or outdoor jobs requiring manual labor, such as truck drivers, hairdressers and chefs; and finally are high-risk occupations, such as construction workers, delivery personnel, journalists and disciplined forces.

However, each insurer classifies occupations differently, so before purchasing a policy you should carefully review the scope of coverage or consult the relevant insurance company.

Finally, cheaper accident insurance is not necessarily better. Accidents are, by nature, unexpected; the number of injuries or the length of treatment may exceed expectations, so policyholders should pay attention to the level of protection. In addition to physiotherapy or bonesetting, some accident insurance also covers Chinese medicine acupuncture and chiropractic treatment, and may even include hospital cash benefits.

• Assess needs: estimate your and your family's annual accident risk (for example: do your children and you exercise frequently? Do you go hiking often?)
• Compare limits: pay attention to medical coverage limits, and depending on individual needs, whether physiotherapy or bone-setting coverage is required
• Make sure to ask: 10Life compares over 40 accident insurance plans on the market, making detailed coverage and premiums clear at a glance, and features an actuary rating. 

Note:   
1. The above premium information is updated to 23 April 2024, and does not include the levy charged by the Insurance Authority.   
2. Last updated: 2025 April 16.

This English version of this article has been generated by machine translation powered by AI. It is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between this translation and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.