Personal accident insurance will offer protection if you are injured, hospitalised, disabled, or in some cases where you die, as a result of an accident. 

Personal accident insurance offers benefits to the policyholder in the form of a tax free lump sum payment, or as a regular monthly or weekly income to replace lost income. It can be purchased for a single policyholder, a couple, or a family.

Personal Accident Insurance

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What is personal accident insurance?

Personal accident insurance will offer you a tax free cash lump sum if you are injured or are unable to work due to an accident.

Personal accident insurance may also include cover for accidental death. The cover provided by personal accident insurance is more limited than cover provided by life insurance as the accidental death cover will only cover death in an accident rather than death from natural causes or illness.

Personal accident insurance is generally offered on a guaranteed acceptance basis. This means that you will not have to answer health questions or face a medical in order to avail of personal accident cover. 

Job risk or may not affect your eligibility for personal accident insurance. Personal accident insurance may be a way for a person with a high risk job to avail of accidental death protection or financial protection if they are unable to work due to an injury.

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Personal Accident Cover for Hobbies

Hobbies may not affect the premium you pay for personal accident insurance, although you may face exclusions in cover. This may mean that an accident as a result of your job or hobby will not be covered under the policy.

Unlike income protection insurance where there is a deferred period, a time period before benefits are paid out, personal accident insurance will pay out relatively quickly, meaning that you will receive benefit as soon as you are out of work following your accident.

Due to the more limited nature of personal accident insurance, it is generally more affordable than other forms of health, life, or income protection insurance as the benefits are provided in more limited circumstances.

Personal Accident cover for hobbies

Personal accident insurance providers Ireland

Personal accident insurance is offered in conjunction with life insurance by a number of insurers. There is very limited availability of personal accident insurance as a stand alone product in the Irish market. However, there are some options, depending on what you require.

AIG - Home Insurance
AXA - Home Insurance
FBD - Home Insurance

AIG Personal Accident Insurance

AIG offers a personal accident insurance policy with a wide range of benefits.You can choose single or double cover, for a family, a couple, or for one policyholder.

The policyholder will receive a cash lump sum on sustaining a range of personal injuries, if they are hospitalised, or suffer an accidental death.

Hive Insurance Services Personal Accident Insurance

Hive insurance services provides a personal accident plan that offers a cash lump sum following various injuries, a hospitalisation cash payment, and an accidental death benefit. 

It can be purchased by an individual, for a couple, or for a family and is available as a Premier Plan or a Premier Plus Plan, each at three levels, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

AXA Personal Accident Insurance

Axa offers personal accident insurance as part of business insurance for sole traders and small businesses and as part of their farm insurance product. This offers protection if you are unable to work due to an accident but is not available as a stand alone product.

FBD Personal Accident Insurance

FBD offers personal accident insurance as part of their tradesperson insurance. If you are a tradesperson, this benefit will offer protection where the policyholder is injured or dies in an accident. Again, this is not a stand alone product.

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What does personal accident insurance cover ?

Personal Accident insurance will offer cash benefits if you are injured or disabled as a result of an accident. Most personal accident insurance includes accidental death cover, if you die as a result of an accident.

Personal accident insurance may offer benefit if you are hospitalised, generally a cash payment per day for each day you are in hospital.

Generally, the amount of the lump sum offered by your policy depends on the severity of your injury, as well as the level of cover you have chosen.

AIG offers single or double cover, for dislocations, broken bones, burns, loss of fingers and toes, loss of hearing, loss of eyesight, loss of limb, and paraplegia or quadriplegia. The cash lump sum varies, according to the injury and its severity but can be up to €600,000.

There is a hospitalisation benefit of  up to €130 per day, up to a maximum of 26 weeks as an inpatient if your hospitalisation is as a result of an accident. There is also an accidental death benefit of up to €60,000 following death due to an accident.

With AIG, you are covered wherever your accident takes place. AIG offers cover worldwide for up to 180 days a year, as well as access to the AIG Virtual Medical Care Programme. 

Your are not excluded from cover for amateur hobbies such as winter sports, or horse riding. However, if your accident is caused while you are riding a motorbike, your cover is reduced by 50%.

AIG offer personal accident insurance from the age of 18 to 74.

Hive Insurance Services offers two plans Premier and Premier Plus with each available at three levels ie. Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Both plans are available for an individual, couple, or family.

Premier cover offers a cash benefit for a range of fractures, anterior cruciate ligament injury, burns and permanent scarring, and accidental death of an adult or child covered by the policy.  

A Premier Plus policy offers protection in the form of a cash lump sum for the above as well as loss of limbs, sight, hearing, speech, paraplegia, quadriplegia, permanent brain damage, and permanent total disability. The cash lump sum can be up to €100,000, depending on your level of cover.

There is also a hospitalisation benefit on the Premier Plus plan of €100 per day, with a lump sum of €1,000 paid if your hospital stay due to an accident exceeds 14 days.  The maximum hospital stay covered is 45 days. This plan also includes an accidental death benefit of €100,000. Again, the lump sums offered depend on your level of cover.

Hive Insurance Services offers personal accident insurance from the age of 18 to 65. 

There are some exclusions in terms of hobbies with riding a motorbike, moped, or scooter and mountaineering and rockclimbing not covered. Neither are you covered for flying except as a fare paying passenger.

Personal accident insurance v Health insurance

The key difference between personal accident insurance and health insurance is that, unlike health insurance where the benefit is generally paid to the healthcare provider, personal accident insurance pays the benefit to the policyholder directly.

Also, where health insurance benefit covers healthcare provision, be it in- or outpatient treatment, consultant visits, or day to day healthcare, personal accident benefit can be used for a range of purposes. It is the choice of the policyholder whether they use the benefit to pay for treatment, to replace lost income, or for another purpose.

Personal accident insurance v Health insurance

Combining personal accident and private health insurance

Even if you have private health insurance, personal accident insurance could be used to cover any excess which you would have to provide before receiving benefit from your health insurer. Additional expenses such as transport, parking, and accommodation near the hospital for your relatives could also be paid for by the lump sum provided by your personal accident insurance if your hospitalisation is due to an accident.

How much does Personal accident insurance cost?

The price of personal accident insurance is generally dictated by the level of cover offered.  As there are no medical questions, your health does not affect the premium you are offered.

AIG

Single cover from AIG is available from €5.95 per month for a single policyholder for single cover or €9.50 for double cover, again for a single policyholder. A couple will pay €11.90 for single cover and €19.00 for double cover from AIG.

Hive Insurance Services

Cover starts from €5.70 per month for a single policyholder or €10.86 for a couple for their Premier Plan at Bronze level. Their most comprehensive cover is their Premier Plus Plan at Gold level which costs €20.38 for a single policyholder or €39.06 for a couple.

Get a FREE Personal accident insurance quote today

Personal accident insurance can be a really affordable way to avail of protection if you are injured or disabled in an accident and are unable to work. 

The cash lump sum offered can be used to pay for healthcare, replace lost income for a time, or even as protection should you die as a result of an accident.

Let us find the best personal accident plan for you and your circumstances today.

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