Contents

• What Are The Benefits of Personal Accident Insurance?
• What Types of Personal Accident Insurance are Available
• Compare Personal Accident Insurance and Income Protection Insurance
• What are the Conditions of Personal Accident Insurance

When you suffer an accident it can be annoying and frustrating, not to mention you feel like a bit of a fool for letting it happen in the first place. However, an accident can have much wider reaching effects than temporary discomfort and few weeks of inconvenience while you recover. When you suffer a personal accident you may not be able to complete your work or home duties as normal and this can result in a decrease or loss of income, plus you never really know if or when any after effects from the accident will rear up and affect you in the future.

That is where personal accident insurance can protect you and your family or other dependents if you are injured and unable to perform your normal duties. If you are injured and unable to work, personal accident insurance can cover up to 75% of your income if you are unable to work for a certain period of time – you can choose the cover period when you apply for the insurance.

What Are The Benefits of Personal Accident Insurance?

The life insurance premiums you pay for your personal accident insurance policy are fully tax deductible so you can save your family the worry of a lost income, and you can also save at tax time. You can also choose how long you would like to receive cover benefits for if you are injured and unable to work. For example you could choose benefits payable for two years, five years or until you reach retirement age and your superannuation or investment benefits are available.

What Types of Personal Accident Insurance are Available

While accidents can happen to anyone, there are certain people in certain professions who can be more liable to suffer an accident, and one which will prevent them from completing their usual duties and earning a full income. A general personal accident insurance policy will cover you for any bodily injury which is directly and wholly the fault of an accident. The injuries sustained must be external and visible injuries which are not attributable to any other cause. You are then covered for the results of any general accident which prevents you from working.

Personal accident insurance benefits are not restricted to paid work, and volunteer workers can apply for personal accident insurance in case they are unable to perform their duties. In this instance, the organisation they volunteer for is covered if they lose one of their volunteers for a period of time, and as a volunteer you can receive income protection if you were injured while completing voluntary work.

Family day carers can also be covered by personal accident insurance, which can be particularly useful as most carers are self employed and if they are unable to work there is often no one else to help with income or business support. Self employed workers also don’t usually have access to employment benefits such as sick leave and in this instance personal accident insurance can protect up to 75% of your income if you need time off from work to recover from an injury. Personal accident insurance for carers can cover:

• Up to 75% of average gross weekly income.
• Benefits paid for up to 52 weeks.
• After a 30 day excess period.
• Accidents which occur at any time of the day or night, anywhere in the world.
• Without a medical check, although pre-existing conditions are often excluded.
• A benefit amount you choose.
• A range of payment options for premiums, where you can make payments monthly or yearly.
• A HIV accidental infection benefit.
• Complications from pregnancy or birth for up to 10 weeks.
• Bereavement leave for two weeks if there is a death in your immediate family.

At the same time, you may be thinking about how many scraps and scrapes your children get into and so you may want to know more about childrens’ personal accident insurance. Personal accident insurance for your children can protect them if they suffer a serious injury outside of your home. Knowing your child is protected if they have an accident at childcare for example can afford you peace of mind knowing that you won’t have to be out of pocket for all of the medical expenses for an accident which occurred while you weren’t there.

School students can also be covered by personal accident insurance when they are on the school grounds and many schools have policies which cover staff, students and visitors such as sporting teams playing away.

Many athletes competing at a professional level will have been insured by their team or sports club against an injury as the loss of a star player can mean the loss of a championship season. While you may not have made it to the big leagues just yet, you can still take out a personal accident insurance policy if your body is how you earn your living. Professional dancers for example can take out personal accident insurance which covers them for broken bones and soft tissue injury for up to 52 weeks and there is a range of personal accident insurance policies for athletes in any field.

Compare Personal Accident Insurance and Income Protection Insurance

Personal accident insurance will only pay a lump sum of cash after an accident where you have suffered an injury. However, income protection insurance will pay a benefit while you are off from work after an accident. Income protection insurance generally also includes benefits for sickness, whereas a personal accident insurance policy can include sickness benefits or pay you monthly benefits instead of a cash lump sum. Therefore, personal accident insurance is generally classified as a policy which pays a cash sum, and income protection insurance generally pays monthly benefits.

Also look at how your personal accident insurance protects you if you need long term care as some insurance products will run rigorous assessments to determine whether you need long term care after an accident, while others will pay out a benefit and simply help you arrange care if you feel you need it. With investment and equity release insurance products you are able to choose whether you want to use your benefit payouts on care at all.

You can also often customise your personal accident insurance to include features such as:

• Automatic renewal. This means that once your policy is approved, your insurer guarantees to renew your policy at the end of each contract period, or for a time specified in the policy – often up to two years.
• Cover for business expenses. You can choose to have your business expenses insured as well and this cover can mean your insurer pays your weekly business expenses as they occur, or a set amount of business expenses stipulated in your insurance policy agreement.
• Work and leisure cover. Some personal accident insurance policies will only cover you for accidents which occur at work, but make sure you are covered for all accidents, at any time.
• Transport insurance. Make sure vehicle accidents are covered in case you are driving or are a passenger in a vehicle when you are injured, you are on public transport or you are a pedestrian when you are hit by a motor vehicle.
• Volunteer work. You can also be insured if you undertake volunteer work and can be insured for accidents which occur during your volunteer hours.

What are the Conditions of Personal Accident Insurance

To help you decide whether you would be suited to personal accident insurance and whether you can truly benefit, you will need to look at whether you are likely to void any of the conditions of the insurance. For example, personal accident insurance does not generally cover injuries which have been self inflicted as the result of a suicide attempt, dental injuries or illnesses.

Also be aware that personal accident insurance is not covering you for accidental death because where personal accident insurance will pay you 75% of your income if you are in an accident and unable to work, if you die as the result of an accident, you will need to be covered by accidental death insurance for your family to receive any benefits. With an accidental death insurance policy your beneficiaries will receive a lump sum payment if you die but with personal accident insurance the benefits are paid directly to you, and you often don’t need to undergo a medical test.

While you can’t expect the unexpected – because then it wouldn’t be unexpected – you can prepare for the worst by protecting yourself and your income with personal accident insurance. Plus, even if the worst doesn’t happen you are still rewarded with peace of mind and tax deductible premiums.