Who Should Get Accident Insurance?

According to statistics by the National Safety Council, an American has an accidental injury every second¹. When you have an injury, your health insurance may not cover all your costs. An accident insurance policy can help with your medical expenses that major medical doesn’t cover. This type of insurance is suitable for many groups of people, including self-employed individuals and those who live an active lifestyle. Here’s how accident insurance works and who can most benefit from this policy.

How accident insurance works

Accident insurance pays you cash benefits if you have an accident that’s covered under the policy. The benefit you receive will be based on the severity of your injury. When an accident occurs, there can be a great deal of treatment fees that exist outside of hospital bills. You can use the money to help with your recovery expenses and your daily living expenses if your accident puts you out of work.

Should I get accident insurance?

Depending on individual circumstances, this type of insurance might be helpful for some groups more than others:

Self-employed individuals

Workers’ compensation insurance is available to traditional employees if they’re injured at work. They also have the advantage of potentially receiving paid time off. Since self-employed workers don’t have these benefits as options, they’re more at risk of financial hardship if an injury keeps them from working. The cash benefits provided by accident insurance can help keep self-employed individuals financially stable until they can work again. A small business owner can use the money to help with business expenses, household bills, medical bills, and other expenses as needed.

Active individuals

Those who live an active lifestyle are more at risk of having an accidental injury than those who live a sedentary lifestyle. An active lifestyle means that you regularly do physical activities throughout your day. Those activities can include running, bicycling, weightlifting, and other types of exercise.

Even with taking necessary precautions when doing activities, accidents can still happen. If you break your arm due to a bicycling accident and you require surgery to treat it, the cost can be expensive. If your health insurance doesn’t cover all of the cost, an accident insurance policy can help make paying for treatments more affordable.

Parents

A statistic reported by Stanford Children’s Health noted that kids accounted for 8,000 fall-related ER visits a day². Accident insurance that covers your children can help ensure you’ll be able to help pay for your child’s treatment if they’re ever injured.

You might find the policy to be even more needed if your children happen to play sports. Over 3.5 million children aged 14 and under are injured every year participating in sports or recreational activities³. Most accident insurance policies can help with expenses if your child is injured in a sport activity. Evaluating your lifestyle and financial circumstances will help you determine if you should consider getting accident insurance.

Sources

¹ National Safety Council. “Injury Facts: The Source for Injury Stats.”

² Stanford Children’s Heath. “Accident Statistics.”

³ Stanford Children’s Health. “Sports Injury Statistics.”

Coverage is underwritten by Aflac. In New York, coverage is underwritten by Aflac New York. This is a brief product overview only. Coverage may not be available in all states. Benefits/premium rates may vary based on plan selected. Optional riders may be available at an additional cost. Plans and riders may also contain a waiting period. Refer to the exact plans and riders for benefit details, definitions, limitations and exclusions. For availability and costs, please contact your local Aflac agent/producer.  In Idaho, Policies A35100ID-A35200ID, & A35B24ID. In Oklahoma, Policies A35100OK-A35200OK, & A35B24OK. In Virginia, Policies A35100VA-A35400VA, A35B24VA, & A35BOFVA.

Content within this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial or medical advice regarding any specific situation. Aflac cannot anticipate all the facts that a particular employer will have to consider in their benefits decision-making process.

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