| My sympathies! I remember going through all of this when we hired our helper (we didn't go thru an agency) and the paperwork can be quite scary. Anyway, here's what I did:
1) Most banks (HSBC, BEA, Standard Charter, Dao Heng etc) will offer the employee health insurance. Usually there are two types of packages - the basic one covering the essentials and a more comprehensive one which offers some compensation for doctor's visits etc. I would go for the latter, as that is usually where you will most likely claim for. Also they offer 1 and 2-year pkgs and I would go for the two year (ie. duration of the helper's contract) as renewal pckgs tend to cost more than the orig one. After comparison shopping, we went with Dao Heng which had a very cheap 2-yr pckg deal at that time. (I think we paid $550 a year, for a comprehensive pckg with compensation for medical and dental visits.)
2) If you go for the more comprehensive insurance schemes, they will offer some basic coverage for medical expenses (as per above.)
3) The contract requireds you to purchase an open-ended one-way ticket to HK for your helper. I went to one of the travel agents in Worldwide House and bought it there. Tell them you need a TEV (ticket exchange voucher) to show the PHilippine Consulate (it's just an orange piece of paper with some basic travel info) and they'll know what to do. After the Philippine consulate checks it, they will give it back to you and you then have to give to the helper so she can exchange it for an airticket in the Philippines to get to HK.
I don't remember anything about a bond. Perhaps I just brought along my latest original bank statement for them to look at? I'm not really sure about this one.
Good luck!  |