Accidental Injury Insurance

We would all love to think we’ll never get in an accident, but they’re more common than you’d expect. Car crashes, sports injuries, throwing out your back during yoga, slipping on ice in your driveway—the list goes on.

In fact, in the U.S., emergency rooms get about 30 million visits annually because of unintentional injuries (that’s more than the entire population of Australia!). Be sure to consider accident insurance for your whole family as kids are even more prone to accidents—each year, more than 775,000 14-year-olds and under are treated in ERs for sports-related injuries. Even if you think you or your kids will never get hurt, it’s best to plan ahead.

If you get in an accident, you might need to take off work for physical therapy or follow-up care. And in some cases you might not be able to work at all due to broken bones or the inability to drive. When that happens, working fewer hours can really make money tight, especially if you’re on the hook for multiple medical bills. That is why many people like knowing they have accident insurance to provide extra cash during income loss.

What is Accident Expense Insurance?

Accident expense insurance — accident insurance for short — is a type of supplemental policy that pays out a lump sum cash benefit if you are injured due to a covered accident. Accident insurance is commonly used to fill gaps in other types of coverage, such as health and disability insurance. (It is not a substitute for either.) Accident insurance coverage can be purchased individually through a private carrier, obtained as part of a group plan, or both, and you’re covered no matter your health situation. This comes in handy if a prior medical issue has put you at risk for falls or other accidents.

What does Accident Insurance cover?

Payment received from an accident insurance policy can be used to pay for expenses incurred, some of which could include:

• Dental
• Medical deductibles and co-payments
• Ambulance costs both ground and air ambulance
• Crutches
• Physical therapy
• Household expenses, such as a wheelchair ramp
• Many other associated expenses such as pharmacy

Accident insurance pays “on top of,” or in addition to other types of insurance you may have. Different types of policies that are not affected by accident policy benefits you may receive are:

• Health insurance
• Disability insurance
• Life insurance
• Critical illness insurance
• Cancer insurance
• Accidental death & dismemberment insurance (AD&D)

Accidents happen. Make sure you’re covered.

If you have any of these coverages and suffer a covered accident, payment would be paid to you as outlined in the coverage. Accident insurance policies supplement the benefits from the other kinds of policies listed above; they do not replace them.

Accident insurance provides you with a one-time, lump-sum payment to use at your discretion for designated accidents like concussions or broken bones. It’s designed as a supplemental plan, meaning it’s to be used in conjunction with, but not a replacement for, a regular health insurance plan.

Accident insurance helps you pay for medical and other out-of-pocket costs that you may incur after an accidental injury. This includes emergency treatment, hospital stays, medical exams, as well as other expenses you may face such as transportation and lodging needs.