By Vivian Yu
Hong Kong, 25 June 2025: Significant changes to the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance (TAVA) Scheme are imminent, with authorities seeking to drastically reduce the number of compensated sick leave days and daily subsidies. It is believed the move will help prevent future abuses of the system and make the regime more financially sustainable.
Administered by the Social Welfare Department (SWD), the fund supports victims of road accidents or their surviving dependants, providing modest but timely relief to ease financial difficulties on a non-means-tested basis, regardless of the element of fault leading to the occurrence of the accident. There are five types of grants, covering burial, death, disability, injury and interim maintenance.
The TAVA Scheme is funded via levies on vehicle licence and driving licence fees, contributions from the government, refund of assistance payments and investment income. However, payouts have soared 65% in the past five years from HK$297 million per annum to HK$492 million. If this trend continues, the fund will run out in 2033.
A legislative paper submitted by the Labour and Welfare Bureau proposes merging the injury and interim maintenance grants – since they “are similar and their beneficiary groups overlap” – into a new compassionate grant. At the same time, this measure will reduce the maximum number of sick leave days for which victims can claim financial assistance from 180 to 60. Further, the average daily assistance will decrease from the current highest rate of HK$918 to an average of HK$330 per day.
This is expected to significantly reduce total annual payouts. Currently, some 30% of people receiving the injury grant also benefit from the interim maintenance grant. The two combined account for 99% of the total amount disbursed from the fund.
Two other changes are planned. Firstly, the minimum sick leave requirement for eligibility will revert to seven days – having been dropped to three many years ago – to deter trivial or fraudulent claims. Secondly, there will be a restriction on repeat applications for the compassionate grant; at present, around 19% of cases involve people who have previously sought assistance, but now they will be restricted to one application within a two-year period.
The LegCo paper also highlights fraud prevention efforts, noting that last year the police initiated a large-scale operation and arrested more than 300 individuals on suspicion of using forged medical certificates from private clinics. The total assistance amount of the cases involved was HK$14 million. Further, as my colleague Jeffrey Chan has outlined in a recent article, fake traffic accidents are also a drain on the TAVA Scheme and are subject to police investigation.
The proposed amendments to the TAVA Scheme are expected to be approved by LegCo’s Finance Committee and implemented soon afterwards. Insurance companies are advised to be aware of the revisions and plan accordingly.
Here at BC&C, we have a burgeoning Insurance and Personal Injury team and we act as panel solicitors for several major insurance companies. At the same time, we care about the concerns of policyholders, meaning our lawyers also act for private and legally aided clients. For all aspects of insurance law, we are ready to assist.
Vivian Yu is a Senior Associate at BC&C. She focuses primarily on insurance and personal injury litigation and has experience in dealing with a wide range of personal injury and liability claims, including employees’ compensation, public liability, motor and recovery claims. She can be contacted at Vivian@boasecohencollins.com.
