We all want to keep ourselves safe from accidents, but this isn’t something that is always within our control. Even if we have the safest behaviours, we could still be in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Hence it is very important to have an accidental policy as part of our insurance portfolio.
As its name suggests, a personal accident plan helps immensely to cope with injuries, death, and disabilities – temporary or otherwise – that occur from accidents. Although it sounds similar to a life insurance policy, personal accident insurance differs from life insurance in the following ways:
- Life insurance covers both death caused by unintentional injuries, as well as death due to natural causes while personal accident insurance only covers death as a result of an accident.
- Life insurance covers total and permanent disabilities which means that the disability must be total and permanent and persists continuously for an extended period of time or total and irrecoverable. Whereas for personal accident insurance, any form of disability is covered. Even if you did not lose any body parts, as long as you are temporarily unable to work due to an accident, you are covered.
Furthermore, it complements our hospitalisation plans. There will be times that we get injuries bad enough to require treatment, but not bad enough to warrant hospitalization. If we are not hospitalized, we cannot claim aginst our hospitalization plan. This is where the personal accident plan comes in for the out-patient treatment and consultation visits to the TCM or GP.
Please note that having a personal accident insurance does not mean we can indulge in risky behavoiurs as claims can be voided under these circumstances. Also all accidents arising from intoxication will not be covered. When travelling, do check out the the list of countries excluded under your personal accident insurance policy.
We hope this article helped in shedding light on the importance of buying a personal accident plan. It takes only one accident to burn a hole in your wallet so be prepared always!
