Personal Injury Claims

Personal Injury

What is Personal Accident Insurance?

Personal accident insurance, also known as personal injury cover, protects you financially if you suffer serious injury when you are involved in an accident.

The policies are designed to help you and your family if you can no longer work, or incur costs due to the injury. Some personal accident policies will also cover your family if you die in an accident.

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It can work in a variety of ways – such as:

• Protection against loss of income (income protection insurance)
• Compensation for medical expenses
• Emotional or personal losses

Cover for accidents is often included as part of other types of insurance. Car insurance, life insurance and health insurance policies will commonly include a personal accident clause. More general health insurance policies, and will often include sickness cover and more medical expenses too.

It will not cover other reasons you might be injured or unable to work, such as being ill or having mental health problems. Though, there are many things that most personal accident insurance policies will cover you for, such as:

• Accidents in the workplace.
• Injuries from road collisions.
• Serious injuries from playing sport.
• Injuries from assaults or other violence.
• Injuries from slips and trips.
• Disability, loss of body parts or paralysis.

Benefits of Personal Accident Insurance
The main benefit of personal accident insurance is knowing that if you are unable to work due to injury you will be compensated. Accident insurance helps people pay bills or cover extra expenses that came from their accident. This can be especially important for self-employed people.

If you aren’t on a salary or aren’t given sick pay by your employer, it can be a comforting benefit to have this type of insurance. It is also popular with people who work in high-risk jobs where accidents are more likely. Labourers, trades and work contractors are likely to want policies.

Personal accident insurance policies all cover different things. When policy might not seem right for you, another might be perfect. If you are thinking of getting a policy, it is important to look at the ins and outs of different policies.

If you require a policy for certain types of work you will need to make sure they are covered. The same goes for sports injuries and being hurt as a result of a crime or traffic accident. Some policies have stringent definitions of what is and aren’t covered. If you think you were sold a policy which doesn’t cover what you needed it to, read more below about mis-selling of insurance that isn’t appropriate for specific needs.

Personal Accident Insurance Claims
When you claim on your accident cover, there are certain things the insurer might ask to prove that you deserve the money you are asking for.

These things can be as simple as how the accident happened, what injuries you have and how these injuries stop you from working. These are routine questions that help protect insurance companies against fraud.

Sometimes they might also ask about other details of the accident, such as the date and time, and if other people were involved. If it happened as a result of an accident on the road or an assault, there could be more complications with the police.

Most policies will pay you a single lump sum, but you can also find policies which will pay you a regular income for a set period. In the case of accidental death, sometimes both can be given to your family – a lump sum to help with funeral costs and an income afterwards.

Payment will only come after a deferment period. This is the length of time you must be out of work before you receive any money. For most people, this is two weeks, but for others, it can be anywhere from one week to a month.

Because insurers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), there are rules they must stick by. These mean that most, the insurers will give you the money when you claim for personal accident insurance. But there are times when they won’t pay, even when you are entitled to it.

It is times like this that you need a reliable and successful claims management company on your side. Having the right team working with your case will help you get the money you need and deserve as soon as possible.

Mis-sold Personal Accident Insurance
Just as with any other type of insurance, personal accident insurance can be mis-sold to people. This is often due to a salesperson being dishonest with what the policy covers. If when you bought the policy, you were told it would cover you in specific ways but it doesn’t, the policy was likely mis-sold.

For instance, if you worked at heights and took the accident insurance policy out for work, it should cover you for this. If it doesn’t cover injuries from ladders or climbing, the policy was likely mis-sold to you.

Personal accident insurance policies can also be mis-sold if the risks of not taking out the policy were exaggerated by the seller. The Financial Conduct Authority states that when insurance is sold, sellers must be honest about the risks and benefits. They must also not ‘pressure sell,’ where they try to make you buy a policy even if you don’t want to.

If you think you might have been mis-sold your personal accident insurance policy it is essential to look at ways to recover your money quickly. Unlike most other insurances, accident cover protects you against not being able to earn additional money and so it is hugely important to be safe. Contact our expert team today for advice on how to make a claim.

Personal Accident and Sickness Insurance
Accident and Sickness policies combine aspects of health insurance and personal accident insurance. They work in a similar way to personal injury cover, but also will help you with loss of earnings or financial costs if you are too ill to work. They can also your family with costs in the case of your injury or death.