I’ve got medical insurance, so is personal accident insurance necessary?

You got your priorities right! You should only consider personal accident insurance, commonly called a “PA”, once you and your family have your medical insurance in place.

The reason to consider personal accident insurance is that some accidents do not require hospitalisation or surgery that would be covered by medical insurance. For example, say you fell and suffered a deep cut and a twisted ankle. Your medical insurance is unlikely to pay for your clinic visit to stitch your cut or for the physiotherapy for your twisted ankle. The injuries are not serious enough to warrant a hospital visit that would activate your medical plan.

But a personal accident policy will pay for medical costs associated with your accident, and it usually includes an allocation for physiotherapy, chiropractic care and TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). There will be a limit for medical expenses, but that’s ok, because more serious injuries will be covered by your medical policy anyway.

In addition, it will pay you a lump sum based on a scale for various types of injuries (including burns), disability, and for death, caused by an accident. The benefits will differ from insurer to insurer, or even from plan to plan, so do read the benefits table carefully to see if they are sufficient for you. Some even provide for loss of income whilst suffering the disability, and a daily income if you’re hospitalised. Coverage for prostheses, home nursing care, and post-accident plastic or dental surgery are also included as benefits of many plans.

Premiums are generally quite affordable. No medical check-ups are required. If you’re not working in a dangerous job, you should be able to get PA insurance without a hitch.

If you are an active person who exercises outdoors a lot, or have active children, I would recommend you getting PA insurance for you and your family (but of course, after you’ve gotten your medical insurance first). I would also recommend a PA policy for elderly parents, who are likely to run a bigger risk of falls as they get older, and for people who commute to work with motorbikes.

Here’s to no accidents in the first place, but having peace of mind to know you and your family are insured in any case.

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Yours truly,
Harvin Sidhu