3 Types of Disabilities covered by a Personal Accident Insurance Policy

Usually, when you hear the word ‘accidents’, the first image that pops in your head is road or traffic accidents. But, accidents don’t only happen on roads. They can happen anywhere - even at home. You could trip and fall down the stairs, or you could get an electric shock or hit your head while cleaning a fan, and lose the function of a limb. Disabilities caused as a result of such accidents could impact your earning, and your family’s financial stability.

In fact, speaking purely in financial terms, an accidental disability could cost your family even more than your death, as you’ll need to invest in making drastic structural changes around the house like building a ramp or putting up safety rails, etc. to fit your changing needs. In addition to these, you might need physical therapy, rehabilitation care, and treatments that your health insurance wouldn’t essentially cover. 

To manage the financial risk of such a disability that can occur without zero advance notice, you should consider investing in a Personal Accident Insurance Cover.  Here’s a quick snapshot of all the conditions that a personal accident insurance policy insures you against.

Types of Disabilities Covered By Personal Accident Insurance Policy

1️⃣ Permanent & Total Disability

Permanent total disability refers to injuries where you lose a core function of the body, impacting your ability to earn and live a regular life, forever. Such disabilities cannot be reversed even after treatments and long-term therapy. 

Permanent blindness in both eyes, losing both hands, or both legs or one hand or one leg are some disabilities that come under permanent total disability. In the case of a permanent total disability, the policy usually pays 100% of the sum assured.

Note: Disabilities such as losing speech, the ability to eat, and even losing sanity could be covered too. You should get a detailed list of the disabilities covered from your policy document. 

2️⃣ Permanent Partial Disability

These are a list of injuries that result in partial disabilities with no possibility of recovery even with treatments, like - losing sight in one eye, losing the ability to hear in one ear, losing a limb, or a finger, losing the sense of taste or smell, etc. In these cases, the coverage will depend on the seriousness of the disability. The policy pays you a certain percentage of the total coverage amount as per a pre-agreed rate card.

3️⃣ Temporary Total Disability

These are injuries or disabilities that make you immobile or bed-ridden - but only for a limited period of time. In such cases, you’re paid a certain percentage of the total sum assured for every week of disability (usually this is 1% of the sum assured per week).

For instance, if you have bought a personal accident insurance policy of INR 25 Lakhs, the policy will pay INR 25000 per week for the duration that you are temporarily disabled.

Important note: In some personal accident insurance policies, you may have to separately opt for this cover.

Does A Personal Accident Insurance Policy Also Cover Accidental Death? 

Yes - in case the insured person dies due to an accident within a year, their nominee will be paid 100% of the sum assured. 

Do You Really Need To Buy A Personal Accident Insurance Cover?

Accidents are always waiting to happen. According to a recent study on the Indian population, it was found that 1214 road crashes occur every day in India - mind you these are only road accidents. Accidents at home are a lot more likely, and common as well. Further, accidents do not depend on a pre-existing condition or your family medical history - so you have no way to prepare for them, or make a lifestyle/ health choice to prevent them. 

And when they do happen, they can easily set you back financially - impacting your ability to earn and quickly draining all your savings. Taken together - you’ll realize that a personal accident insurance policy is a very important one for every earning member of the family to consider. And compared to other insurance products in the market, it is considerably cheap as well - a personal accident insurance cover of INR 50 Lakh will not cost you more than INR 7000 to 8000 (with tax).

If you liked this article, do let us know in the comments section right below this article. Also, if you have any questions related to personal accident insurance cover, you can post a query on the Beshak Insurance Forum, and get answers from insurance experts in 6-8 hours.