OneInsure Blog

Personal Accident

Post By Joan

Why Having a Personal Accident Insurance Policy Is Essential Nowadays

On 28 December 2017, a fire broke out at the Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel, Mumbai, claiming 14 lives. About three months earlier, a stampede at the Elphinstone Road station resulted in the death of 22 people and injured over 32 others.

While tragedies like these claim many lives every year, an even higher number of individuals suffer temporary or permanent disablement. A personal accident insurance policy is a low-cost cover that provides financial compensation in case of injuries, disability or death caused by accidental, violent, and visible events. Now, a PA insurance plan should not be confused with a life insurance policy or a health insurance policy. A life insurance cover provides compensation to the family in the event of the demise of the insured individual, while a health insurance policy covers the individual’s medical and surgical expenses. So, what happens if an individual gets disabled in an accident and is unable to earn a living? This is where a PA insurance policy comes in handy – besides covering accidental death; it also covers total permanent disablement, partial permanent disablement and temporary total disablement due to an accident.

The coverage and kind of benefits vary among insurance companies and you should, therefore, ensure that you opt for a policy that meets your requirements. The premium rates for such plans do not cost too much. You can get a policy of ₹12-15 lakhs sum insured by just paying an annual premium of ₹3,000-4,000. Such a policy will compensate you for some of the medical expenses incurred as a result of the accident and provide hospital cash benefit, besides covering death and disability.

A PA policy can be bought two ways – either as a rider to your insurance policy or as a standalone cover.

Rider: Life and health insurance policies give you the option of attaching a personal accident rider to the base policy for an additional premium. In case of a life plan, the rider will be active till the end of the policy tenure, whereas under health plans, you will need to keep reattaching it every time you renew the plan so as to enjoy uninterrupted coverage.

Standalone Policy: You have the option of buying a standalone personal accident plan to cover accidental contingencies. It will cover accidental death or disability and even broken bones and burns.

It is always recommended to go for a standalone policy since it will provide a more comprehensive coverage. Although riders may be the cheaper option, standalone policies generally provide cover for a much wider range of issues. If you look at some of the best PA policies out there, you will see that besides covering death, permanent total disability, and permanent partial disability, it offers covers like children education benefit, EMI payment cover, loan protector cover and adventure sports benefit, among others, on payment of additional premium.

The final call of whether to opt for personal accident insurance cover as a rider or as a standalone policy rests completely upon you. If you are availing a life or health insurance policy, you can include this as a rider. However, if your policy does not offer this option, you can always buy a standalone cover. It is recommended to opt for a standalone plan since the coverage provided is more exhaustive in nature when compared to a rider. To find the most suitable personal accident insurance policy to meet your needs, kindly reach us at 86559-86559 or drop us a mail at support@oneinsure.com.