Accidental insurance: Important! Very few people buy it but here is why you must take this - 5 reasons

It's easy to find people having life insurance, medical insurance plan but still, in India accidental insurance plan holders are rare. There are various reasons for this. One of the major reason for this is lack of awareness amongst investors and insurance agents showing lesser interest in selling pure accidental insurance plan as commission in pure accidental plans are quite low in comparison to life insurance or medical or health insurance plans. Apart from this, the majority of the medical expenses are already covered under medical or health plan. That's why people show lesser interest in buying a pure accidental plan and insurers also don't make people aware of the importance of a pure accidental plan.

Speaking on the matter Kartik Jhaveri, Director — Wealth Management at Transcent Consultants told Zee Business Online, "Lack of awareness about the importance of a pure accidental insurance plan is because the product itself is not considered an important one because nobody thinks about they will come across an accident of higher volume." Jhaveri said that generally when someone comes across any severe accident the hospitalisation expenses are already covered in the medical or health plan and this also one of the major reasons for people not buying a pure accidental insurance plan. However, Jhaveri said that people must buy a pure accidental insurance plan.

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On why insurance agents don't sell pure accidental plans Jitendra Solanki, a SEBI registered investment guru said, "Premium for a pure accidental insurance plan is very low. For around Rs 5-10 lakh accidental cover, the premium is around Rs 1000 while for health insurance or medical insurance the premium is around 6-7 times higher. Since the commission of the insurance agent is same in health, medical and pure accidental insurance agents either bundle accidental insurance with any of their health or medical plans or dump the idea of selling a pure accidental insurance plan."

Both Kartik Jhaveri and Jitendra Solanki said that there are some other benefits that make a pure accidental insurance a must. Here are the following top five reasons that make pure accident insurance plan an important investment of an individual:

1] Benefit post-disability

A person may come across a temporary or permanent disability post an accident. Under a pure accidental insurance plan, a policyholder can claim compensation for various kinds of disability, which neither his or her medical insurance or life insurance covers. 

"In case of job loss due to an accident, the policyholder can claim for the job loss too. Even in case of loss of index finger that led to discontinuation of his or her job is covered under a pure accidental insurance plan," said Jitendra Solanki.

2] Hospitalisation expenses

Generally, people avoid a pure accidental insurance plan as hospitalisation expenses post-accident is already covered under medical insurance or health insurance plan. But, what in case the hospital bill shoots beyond the limit of their health insurance plan? 

"A person can avail insurance benefits under more than one plan. In case of an accident, one can claim insurance benefits under both medical or health insurance and the pure accidental insurance plan. In case the hospital bill shoots beyond a certain level, one can avail benefits under both types of insurances," said Kartik Jhaveri of Transcent Consultants.

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3] Home/Vehicle adaptation

An accident may lead to a kind of disability that forced adaptation or altercation in your home and the vehicle that you use. For example, suppose you can't move on your feet post-accident and you need a wheelchair to move. In such a case, you need to make some alteration at your home and some altercation in your vehicle. If one has a pure accidental insurance plan, these alterations at home and vehicle are covered.

"Any altercation caused by an accident that is required at home and vehicle is covered under a pure accidental insurance plan," said SEBI registered investment expert Jitendra Solanki.

4] Family transportation during hospitalisation

Post-accident, it's not necessary that one would be hospitalised in a hospital, which is at a walking distance from his or her home. The hospitalisation depends on various variables like the place of accident and type of accident and which hospital suits that kind of accident, etc. So, a policyholder's family may not be able to choose the hospital where the policyholder would be hospitalised, at least immediately post-accident. In that case, the family members of the policyholder will have to commute a long distance leading to a large amount being spent on transportation. But, these expenses can be claimed under a pure accidental insurance plan.

5] Death claim

In case the policyholder fails to survive the accident, the family members would be eligible for claiming the death cover in a pure accidental insurance plan. This would be in addition to the death cover under his or her life insurance plan and life cover for the operational bank debit card.

Therefore, these are the top five reasons that make a pure accidental insurance a must in anybody's investment plans.