The Government has no plan to disregard insurance policies' cash value in calculating the value of a Transport Support Scheme applicants' personal assets, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung says.

He today told lawmakers an applicant's total personal asset value should be no more than $44,000.

"Personal assets include land/property, cash, bank deposits, cash value of insurance policy, investments in stocks and shares, and other readily realisable assets. An insured may manage the cash value of his/her insurance policy according to his/her needs under the respective terms of the policy, including the withdrawal of cash from the insurance company basing on its prevailing value.

"As such, the cash value of insurance policy is similar in nature to other realisable assets and should be counted as part of an applicant's personal assets."

This approach is consistent with that established for other publicly-funded assistance schemes, he said, such as the tertiary student finance and comprehensive social security assistance schemes.

He said 40,413 people have applied for the Transport Support Scheme since its launch. Of these, 210 applicants were refused because the total value of their personal asset exceeded the ceiling of $44,000.

Sixteen admitted applicants had to refund the transport allowances paid as they were found to have personal assets exceeding the $44,000 ceiling when the cash value of their insurance policies was included in the calculation.