Accidental Death and Dismemberment. Is Your Family Prepared for the Worst?
If you haven’t been in an accident yourself, you probably know someone who has. There are over five million car crashes 1 in the U.S. every year, not to mention countless other kinds of accidents. But with Accidental Death Insurance or an Accidental Death and Dismemberment policy (AD&D Insurance), you can financially protect you and your family from the unexpected effects of being in a serious or fatal accident.
Think a serious accident couldn’t happen to you? Just consider these statistics:
- One American dies every 4 minutes as the result of an accident 2
- Accidents are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States 3
- Motor vehicle accidents cause a death every 15 minutes 4
- Accidents claim the lives of 15 Americans every hour, on average 2
Watch the following video for an overview of how accident insurance works to protect your family financially if you’re ever in a serious accident
Basics of Accidental Death Insurance
Accidental death insurance is designed to cover death caused by a “covered accident”.
These policies are generally less expensive than other types of life insurance because they are limited in what they cover. For that reason, it should NOT be considered as a replacement for traditional life insurance, like a permanent Whole Life Policy or a Term Life Insurance policy. If you can qualify for a regular type of policy, that’s the route we strongly recommend you take.
Key characteristics of Accidental Death insurance
- Relatively inexpensive
- Easy to understand
- As long as you pay your premiums, coverage will never be canceled for as long as your policy is renewable
- No medical exam needed
- No waiting period for the coverage to start
- Guaranteed eligibility, despite any preexisting medical conditions
- Up to $500,000 in coverage
At AccuQuote, we passionately believe that life insurance is a great way to help protect your family’s financial well-being and peace of mind. But unfortunately, some people simply can’t qualify for a life policy, due to questionable health (such as heart disease or emphysema) or other causes.
So while you might not be able to get a traditional life policy, you can get some protection…with Accidental Death Insurance.
Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D)
AD&D Insurance policies have the added benefit of a serious injury / dismemberment clause. This type of coverage pays an additional benefit for the loss of limbs, hands, feet, sight, and/or paralysis. This added coverage applies to the owner of the policy, and must be the direct result of a covered accident.
Serious Injury / Dismemberment coverage
AD&D Insurance has all of the same benefits as Accidental Death Insurance listed above – plus coverage for serious injury as listed below, and is a percentage of the face value:
- Loss of one hand, one foot or one eye pays 50 %
- Loss of any 2 or mix of 2 or more hands, feet or eyes pays 100 %
- Quadriplegia pays 100 %
- Paraplegia or Hemiplegia pays 50 %
- Total hearing loss pays 100 %
- Severe burns covering 20% or more of the body pays 100 %
The coverage injury list above is in addition to the face value of the policy. The full face value still applies to any subsequent unrelated accidental death claims.
Common Carrier Benefit
Some Accidental Death and Dismemberment policies have an additional benefit called the Common Carrier Benefit. This states that if your injury is the result of being a fare-paying passenger of a common carrier, they will pay out at 2 to 3 times the normal rate. This benefit applies to all qualifying death or dismemberment cases. “Common carrier” refers to all public transportation like air travel, train, bus, taxi, or ship. Accidents on private or charter carriers typically will not qualify for this benefit.
Benefit Reduction
Most Accidental Death, and Accidental Death and Dismemberment policies automatically decrease their coverage by 50% at age 70.
Exceptions and Exclusions
Every insurance company has its own definition of what is and is not a “covered” accident. They also have their own ways of paying benefits. Some common exceptions include death caused by:
- Physical or mental illness
- Treatment of a physical or mental illness
- A declared or undeclared war
- Suicide or attempted suicide
- Intentional injuries inflicted upon oneself
- Accidents during surgical procedures
- Consumption of non-prescribed or illegally-obtained drugs
- Drunk driving
- Drug or alcohol overdose
- Nuclear radiation
- Bacterial infection
- High-risk activities like car racing, skydiving, etc.
You or your beneficiary can collect benefits only if your death or injuries are proven to be the direct result of the accident. In addition, many policies will pay on a death claim only if death occurs within 90 days of the accident. So if you contract an infection during as an accident that doesn’t take your life until six months later, your family would not receive the policy’s accidental death benefit.
The terms of the covered injuries and the amounts paid for each type of injury vary by insurer and package, and are specified in the insurance policy.
Most policies end or expire at age 80
Protect your family for as little as $14 per month
Accidents take lives every day. This type of insurance policy can help your family maintain their standard of living, if the unthinkable happens to you. Rates start as low as $14 a month for $100,000 in coverage (age limits apply).
Eligibility Is Guaranteed
Acceptance for accidental death insurance is guaranteed for anyone between the ages of 18 and 80. You won’t have to answer any health questions or take a medical exam. You can keep this coverage for as long as you like, provided you pay your premiums on time.
Client must be US citizen or have permanent resident status (green card).
Ways to Buy Accidental Death Insurance
You can purchase an accidental death insurance policy as a separate policy or sometimes as a life insurance rider on a traditional policy.
Accidental death insurance is not available in all states. Contact us at 800-442-9899 to find out if this type of policy is available where you live, or click below to submit your information and have someone call you.
1 http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812032.pdf
2 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/accidental-injury.htm
3 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
4 http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s1103.pdf
