Hong Kong moves to curb ‘abuse’ of traffic accident compensation
Maximum sick leave days to be cut from 180 to 60, with daily assistance reduced from HK$918 to an average of HK$330 under scheme review
Lawmakers have supported a proposal by the Hong Kong government to significantly reduce the number of compensated sick leave days and daily subsidy available to traffic accident victims, saying the move will help prevent future abuses of the system.
A discussion at a Legislative Council welfare services panel meeting on Monday primarily focused on reviewing the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme.
Administered by the Social Welfare Department, the fund provides financial aid to victims of road traffic accidents or their surviving dependants.
Currently, the fund offers five types of grants covering compensation for deaths, burials, support for disability or other injuries, and interim maintenance.
According to a legislative paper from the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the government plans to introduce a new compassionate grant by merging the existing injury and interim maintenance grants, as they serve similar purposes.
The amounts provided to applicants under the injury and interim maintenance categories are assessed based on the number of sick leave or hospitalisation days claimed by the individual.