Is it necessary to have personal accident insurance?
If we look at the insurance cover then only 20 per cent of the people in India are covered with health insurance and only 25 per cent of the Indian population is covered by life insurance and even out of that 25 per cent only 8 per cent have adequate life insurance. The number of people insured under personal accident are way lower than that of life and health insurance.
Many people argue that they have an accident benefit attached to their life insurance. However, it is not a personal accident, it actually represents the accidental death. So, what is personal accident insurance and why is it necessary? PA (Personal Accident) insurance is the insurance policy that covers any minor or major accidents. It covers total or partial disability. It also covers temporary disabilities, due to which you might not be able to resume your work resulting in possible loss of income. A basic coverage that is provided by the insurance companies usually includes death and permanent total disability. However, if you also wish to cover the temporary disabilities then you need to shed a lot more money, as these policies are on the expensive side.
So, why you need this kind of a policy? PA insurance covers those things which usually your life insurance and health insurance don’t cover. Any minor or major accident can cause total or partial disability, if not death, which may lead to possible loss of your income. In such cases, your life insurance doesn’t really help you as it only helps your family in case of death and you even cannot rely on your health insurance as it majorly covers only hospitalization charges. To keep you secured in case of circumstances leading to partial or total disability, you should be covered under personal accident policy.