Contrary to popular belief, personal accident insurance coverage isn’t just for risky jobs. In fact, if you haven’t already read what you need to know about personal accident (PA) plans, they’re useful for a variety of reasons, and this applies to just about everyone. Whether you’re the sort who loves to whiz around on electric scooters, or just laze at home and watch TV all day, here’s why PA insurance is important and applicable to you:
1. It covers all kinds of disablement in one plan.
You’ve probably heard this many times before, but I shall ignorantly reiterate this to you again; you’ll never know when you might meet a major accident and need the extra cash.
It might be a little pantang to say such things. But even if you meditate everyday on your bed, risks of accidents are everywhere. It’s one of those harsh truths you need to hear.
What if you really did (choy-choy) get permanently disabled from an accident one day? What could you do when you’re unable to maintain an income?
I know what you’re thinking…
“So what? My life policy also got TPD coverage what! You’re just trying to upsell me”
No. They’re not quite the same thing.
See, life insurance covers total permanent disabilities. Meaning you have to be totally AND permanently disabled to be covered. The key words here are “totally” and “permanently”.
Totally: Losing more than one of your eyes/hands/legs OR your hearing and sight.
Permanently: You have to be stuck in that condition for a minimum of 6 months.
For personal accident insurance, any form of disability is covered. Even if you didn’t lose any of your body parts, as long as you were temporarily unable to work due to an accident, you’re covered.
Personal accident policies are the most common type of insurance that provides a lump sum payment if you became partially/permanently disabled. Temporary disablement will typically result in a weekly benefit being paid out.
2. Flexible medical reimbursement
Here’s the best part: PA coverage requires no medical underwriting!
This means you do not need to be hospitalized to make a claim. Even if you didn’t sustain any major injuries or got disabled from an accident, Personal Accident plans cover treatments for (almost) everything that results directly from an accident. This includes reimbursement for little visits to the TCM or GP for even that blue black sprain.
This is especially useful for kids, the elderly, and sporty peeps who’re most prone to accidents. Activities like cycling and hiking can result in falls here and there, and with the increased use of personal mobility devices like electrical scooters? This coverage will definitely come in handy.
3. Special benefits: Coverage for reservist and other illnesses.
You’d think that NS activities are high risk so PA plans will not cover injuries sustained from them. But most insurers these days actually do offer extended coverage for these.
Some comprehensive plans even cover medical expenses for infectious diseases such as dengue fever, HFMD and simple food poisoning, insect bites.
4. Low premiums
Most PA plans offer $100,000 coverage for about $150 a year. That works out to less than 50 cents a day! Your Kopi-O also not so cheap.
It’s certainly worth the cost, which is a one-time payment, to ensure that should something unfortunate happen, you don’t have to shell out a lot more money than expected.
Comparing policies is relatively easy and you don’t have to go to individual insurers to figure things out as the policies are quite straightforward. With MoneySmart’s newly-launched Personal Accident Insurance comparison page, you can get a policy in a matter of minutes.