【Buying Insurance Without Help】Which type of insurance should a Slash prioritise? What should they look out for? (1)

Many people are unwilling to tie themselves to a nine-to-six full-time job, and instead choose to become a Slash, making a living by taking on Freelance or Project work. This offers greater flexibility, and there are many “professional Slashes” in industries such as media and design.

However, the path of a Slash is not an easy one. Compared with full-time employment, employee benefits may be almost non-existent, with even the most basic medical protection unavailable. No matter how many skills you have or how diverse your income sources are, an illness can easily knock you out. So, how should the gap in medical protection be filled?

Medical insurance is the most basic protection

A typical full-time job usually comes with employees’ compensation insurance, which protects employees who are injured in work-related accidents or accidents occurring during the course of employment, or who suffer from occupational diseases specified under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance. Companies may also provide company medical insurance (group medical insurance), which generally covers outpatient and hospitalisation benefits.

However, Slashes who mainly take on Freelance work are not covered by employees’ compensation insurance or company medical insurance. Although public hospitals can serve as a last line of defence, the public healthcare system has long been overloaded, with specialist outpatient appointments having waiting times measured in years.

In fact, even people with company medical insurance generally face gaps in medical protection, let alone Slashes. Slashes should therefore plan ahead and consider taking out medical insurance. Take the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) launched by the Government as an example: many plans are reasonably affordable, and there are quite a few options on the market with premiums below $5,000.

Compare products with Insurance Decoder

It is also worth noting that premiums and coverage under VHIS products are not necessarily proportionate. When taking out insurance, you can use Insurance Decoder to compare the pros and cons of different products and identify the medical insurance plan offering the highest level of protection.

In the next article, we will discuss some common questions: does a Slash need to contribute to MPF? How can a Slash with an unstable income make long-term savings and find an additional way to prepare for retirement?

Further reading

1.〈[VHIS Guide for Beginners 2021] Tax deduction tips, Standard Plan vs Flexi Plan, and which offers the best protection?〉

2.〈[A boon for those on a tight budget] Compare VHIS plans with annual premiums below $5,000〉

Note: The above information is provided by 10Life and was updated on 22 November 2021. It is for reference only and does not constitute a sales recommendation.

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.