Categories of personal accidental insurance:
Personal accident insurance is either categorised as individual or group personal accident cover. Group personal accident cover is more accessible to businesses, for employees, but comes with more limits than individual personal accident insurance. NOTE: Bidvest Insurance offers personal accident insurance for individuals, not businesses. To find out more, view our product page.
How is personal accident insurance different from accident health insurance?
Personal accident insurance helps you deal with financial challenges that arise as a result of accidents you can be involved in, like slipping and falling on a floor, and then sustaining an injury because of that. Seeing a doctor, getting a sling fitted on your arm, or repairing damaged teeth could all be costs you face, which get covered by personal accident insurance. Health insurance, though, has different terms and conditions and in South Africa is referred to as medical aid.
The difference between the two products is that with personal accident insurance, you receive a lump sum pay-out, but with health insurance or medical aid, claims are either paid directly to your medical providers, or you settle your bills then claim directly from your health insurer. Medical aid only covers your medical bills, and does not pay out cash to your dependants in the event of your death.
What’s the difference between personal accident and life insurance?
Life insurance covers both accidental and natural death, whereas personal accident insurance covers accidental death, temporary or permanent disability as a result of an accident, and/or hospitalisation as a result of an accident. Your personal accident insurance policy accommodates the reality that you may not be able to work for some time, or permanently, after an accident.
(HINT: Bidvest Insurance offers personal accident insurance from as little as R89pm. Click here to find out more on our product page.)
How does personal accident cover work?
If you have personal accident insurance, and you are subject to an accident, suddenly hospitalised and either injured or succumb to injuries because of an accident, this policy will pay out a sum of cash to you (or your nominated beneficiary in the event of your passing due to accident-related injuries).
What are the benefits of personal accident insurance?
Bidvest Insurance personal accident cover offers:
- Accidental death cover
- Commuter-related accidental death cover
- Repatriation of mortal remains
- Legal assistance with wills and estates
- Lump sum pay-out to the insured/beneficiaries as a result of permanent disability
- Cover for hospitalisation due to accidental injury
- Emergency medical assistance
Does personal accident insurance cover accidental death?
Yes. Personal accident insurance includes accidental death cover. Bidvest Insurance personal accident cover will pay out a lump sum of cash to your nominated beneficiary in the event of your death, as a result of an accident. We have also extended our product to cover commuter-related accidental death.
If you’d like to learn more about Bidvest Insurance personal accident insurance cover, click here to view our product page and leave your details for an obligation-free quote.
Examples of accidents covered by personal accident cover:
Bidvest Insurance acknowledges the following as examples of personal accidents:
- Contact crimes (break ins, assaults, gun injuries)
- Death as a result of personal injuries
- Fire and burn injuries
- Domestic violence
- Drowning
- Slipping and falling
- Poisoning
- Motor vehicle collisions (including those involved with public transport vehicles)
Remember that terms and conditions apply at all times, so be sure to read through your policy documentation or ask our consultants for help with anything you may not understand.
Comparing insured and uninsured personal accident costs:
A very real example within a South African context is contact crimes. Contact crimes are considered personal accidents: they are unpredictable, and can result in victims being injured seriously and unexpectedly. In 2018 alone there were over 600 000 reported contact crimes across the country, which means that varying personal injuries were sustained by victims, many of whom either were or were not insured for personal accidents.
What costs do insured people face?
If you take personal accident insurance, then sustain an injury during a contact crime, you can claim from your policy to help you with costs like:
- Transport between home, medical facilities and police stations after the incident
- Medical care, like removing stitches and dressing any wounds
- Replacing bank cards and ID documents if these have been stolen during the crime.
Transport, whether petrol or public transport, can amount to a few hundred rand. Medical care can go into thousands if injuries are serious, and the same goes for replacing identity documents and personal effects. This cost is significantly reduced, if not fully covered, through Bidvest Insurance personal accident cover.
What costs do uninsured people face?
If you don’t have personal accident insurance, you can easily see how much something could set you back. With premiums starting from R89pm, it’s almost too obvious how a personal accident insurance policy can help you stay ahead in life.
How do you claim from your personal accident cover?
Reporting a personal accident for an insurance claim is simple. If you’re a Bidvest Insurance personal accident cover customer, you can submit your claim over a telephone call. Our claims team will help you by walking you through each step of the process to make sure that you receive the support and services you really need during difficult and unpredictable circumstances.
What happens if you lie to your insurer about an accident?
South African laws allow insurers to deny or repudiate claims based on false information, or any important information which has been either altered or omitted before the inception (beginning) of insurance policies. Even if you’re scared or uncertain of how details impact your cover, you should always tell your insurer the truth. If you have any questions about your policy, or need emergency contact numbers, bookmark our Policy and Contact pages and store the listed numbers on your phone.
The reason for the terms and conditions of repudiation is to safeguard the benefits of every policyholder. If false or invalid claims are paid out, money may not be available for the pay-out of valid claims. The integrity of the insurance industry would be at risk if claims were not subject to necessary quality assurance protocols.
Why should you consider personal accident insurance?
It’s worthwhile considering personal accident cover from Bidvest Insurance because we’ve added more value to our product than most options in the market can offer. Examples of this include emergency medical assistance, legal advice and the repatriation of mortal remains. South Africa’s unfortunate and high mortality rates related to public transport have informed our commuter related death benefit to make sure that our customers feel understood, and know that their needs can be met through our offering.
Bidvest Insurance offers a commuter-related death benefit. It pays out an additional lump sum of cash if you die whilst travelling as a passenger, in either a private car or on public transport, such as a taxi or bus.
Sources:
1South African Qualifications Authority. 2005. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of personal accident insurance. Web page online. Available at: https://qspe.saqa.org.za/showUnitStandard.php?id=10371#:~:text=1.,disability%20and%20temporary%20total%20disability. [Accessed 4 September 2020].
2Clements Worldwide. 2020. Life insurance vs. personal accident. Web page online. Available at: https://www.clements.com/knowledge-center/life-insurance-vs-personal-accident [Accessed 5 September 2020].
