You try your best to live safely. While some safeguards improve your chances of living until old age, life offers no guarantees. Accidents happen every day. In the unlikely event that you die as a result of an accident, you can protect the interests of your family members or other beneficiaries by investing in accidental death insurance.
Accidental death insurance pays your beneficiaries a slated sum of money in the event that you die directly because of an accident. Accidental death insurance often comes with the add-on of dismemberment insurance. Accidental death and dismemberment insurance is often referred to as "AD&D" insurance. Dismemberment insurance would allow you to collect money if you lost any limbs or your sight. You can also add an "additional death rider" or "double indemnity" to your policy to allow your beneficiaries to gather twice as much money in the event of your untimely, accidental death.
What Gets Covered
Your beneficiaries will only receive benefits in relation to your accidental death if your death falls within established parameters. For example, there must be proof that your death was the direct result of an accident. Your death must also have occurred within a set period of time (generally a few months) after the accident. Some policies allow you to include coverage of post-accident hospital stays.
What Doesn't Get Covered
Accidental death insurance policies have their limits. Most policies don't cover death in relation to surgery, mental illness (e.g. suicide or attempted suicide), physical illness, diagnosis or treatment of a mental or physical illness, infection, intentional injury, illegal drug use or high-risk activities such as war and skydiving.
Bonuses
While accidental death policies generally won't cover emotional trauma as a result of accidental death, some will cover counseling for beneficiaries. Another bonus of taking out an accidental death policy is that if you have safe habits--- for example, if you wear a seat belt and you still die in a car accident---your beneficiaries may receive additional money.
Where to Obtain Insurance
You can usually purchase an accidental death policy through your work benefits. The amount of coverage you get may relate directly to your salary. You may also purchase insurance through credit card offers. Moreover, if you're part of a credit union, you may be able to obtain a small amount of accidental death coverage for free.
Member Comments