Motor Insurance Advice for Extreme Weather

Published on: 23 September 2025 | Last Updated on: 23 September 2025 | Reading Time: 5 minutes

Motor Insurance Advice for Extreme Weather in Hong Kong

With extreme weather events becoming increasingly common, our customers are more regularly exposed to the dangers and potential losses from typhoons, flooding, and heavy rain. To help protect our customer’s safety and avoid potential damage to their vehicle, we recommend the following to all Allianz customers in Hong Kong.

1. Heed the available Government Advice

When extreme weather is forecasted, the HK SAR government provides the general public with ongoing advice and precautionary measures to minimize the chance of personal injury during extreme weather. You should always assess the situation as general notices may be late or inaccurate for specific areas.
We recommend our customers to avoid any unnecessary driving of their vehicle before or during extreme weather. Recent typhoons and flooding events have demonstrated the dangers of driving during extreme weather, and remaining at home is usually the safest decision for you and your family.

2. Reduce Speed and Drive Cautiously in Heavy Rain or Storms

If driving cannot be avoided, please slow down. Reducing your speed can increase opportunity to make decisions that can benefit the safety of you, your passengers, and other drivers in the surrounding area.

3. Avoid Standing Water to Prevent Flood Damage to Your Vehicle

Large bodies of standing water can quickly develop during heavy downpours and remain for some time afterwards due to drains becoming blocked with debris. You should avoid driving through these whenever possible. Even if you know a particular section of the road, you can’t see what else is below the surface water. It’s not uncommon for extreme weather to wash away large stones and rocks, which could sit just below the waterline and could risk causing serious damage to your car.

Take an alternative route - If you are unable to determine the depth of the water, do not drive your vehicle through the standing water. If you cannot turnaround or find alternative, it is recommended to call emergency services or the Allianz 24x7 Roadside Assistance hotline for support at 2867 0097  and press 1, 1 after language selection.

Drive along the highest point of the road - If you can determine the water is not deep, and decide to pass through the water body, please do so at a slow speed and with a high level of caution. Driving faster can cause water to come up over the bonnet, risking water intake to the engine bay, which could cause serious harm to your car. Let oncoming vehicles pass to avoid heavy splash which could disrupt your vision and potentially damage your engine. When you’ve driven through the flood, be sure to pump your brakes pedal a few times, as this will help clear the brakes and check your lights and car interiors for any damages and ensure that you still have full functionality of your vehicle.

4. Ensure Safe Stopping Distances

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the distance needed to stop your car safely can dramatically increase in heavy rain, but do you know how much of a difference rain can make? On a dry road, travelling at 50km/h, it can take 25 metres to bring a car to a stop. That distance can double to 50 metres in the rain — the equivalent of ten or more car lengths. As speed increases, so too does the stopping distance, and on a motorway, at 120km/h in the rain, you will need up to 170 metres — almost the length of two football pitches.

5. Check Your Vehicle Before Driving

A few basic checks can help improve your driving safety during heavy rain or harsh weather. Please always consider:

• Are your windscreen wipers functioning properly? Worn down wipers can reduce the ability to clear water from the glass, and limit your ability to see the road ahead. Typically, you should replace windscreen wipers once per year.
• Do you have suitable tires fitted? Ensuring your tires from a trusted brand, and have been checked for the thread and air pressure, will help you in maintaining better handling on the road and increase your ability to stop on a wet road.
• Are both headlamps working? During heavy rain we recommend to keep your head-lights and tail-lights on at all times. This helps not only to see the road ahead of you, but also makes it easier for other nearby vehicles to see where your car’s position and avoid possible accident or injury.

6. How to Prevent Damage to my Car Before / During / After a Flood

• Consider parking your vehicle to higher grounds before the harsh weather arrives
• If you are a driver or passenger in a vehicle that has been flooded or if the water is rising and there is no escape, switch off the engine and exit the vehicle to seek higher ground. In case of emergency, please consider contacting the authorities.

After the flood has subsided, do not attempt to re-start the flooded car by yourself. If there is water in the engine, you may cause serious damage. Please call the Allianz 24x7 Roadside Assistance hotline, and we can tow the vehicle safely to an authorized garage to assess the flood damage and determine reparability.