What does personal accident insurance pay, and do you need it if you have other cover?

Personal accident insurance pays you, or your family, a set amount if an accident kills or disables you. It pays whether or not someone else was to blame.

What does a personal accident policy pay?

A lump sum for death or permanent disability, and some accident medical costs. GIG Gulf’s Smart Protector plan is one published example:

The leaflet adds worldwide cover 24 hours a day, double the death benefit for a death on a common carrier, food poisoning, drowning and lump-sum payment for permanent disability.¹

Sukoon publishes three Life Easy levels: AED 100,000, AED 200,000 or AED 500,000 for accidental death or disability, for AED 249, AED 497 or AED 1,132 a year before 5% VAT. Entry age is 18 to 69.^2,3 The full table is on the Sukoon page.

Read the policy’s scale of indemnity before you buy: it sets what each partial disability pays.

Who can buy it?

Each insurer sets its own rules. GIG Gulf’s plan is open to people aged 18 to 64 who are GCC citizens or GCC residents with a valid business, employment or residence visa. Family cover adds a spouse at 100% of the sum insured and up to four children at 10% each, with the full medical limit for each. More children can be added for an extra premium. The two higher plans are not sold to van salesmen, drivers, industrial workers, mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, masons, farmers, filling station attendants and similar jobs.¹

Why would you need it if you have motor, health or work cover?

Each of those pays only in its own case:

Sources for Table 2

The unified third party policy,⁴ the labour law,⁵ the UAE Government’s work injury page⁶ and the Civil Transactions Law.⁷

Can you add personal accident cover to your car insurance?

Yes. The unified motor policy defines a Personal Accidents Endorsement as extra cover for the driver, the insured and passengers excluded from the basic cover, for an extra premium.⁴ Where the insured, the driver or another excluded person is insured by agreement, the death benefit is at least AED 200,000.⁴ How motor add-ons work is on carinsurance.ae.

Check your car insurance schedule for a driver or passenger personal accident cover before you buy a separate policy.

How do you claim?

Tell the insurer as soon as possible and keep the police report, medical reports and, for a death, the death certificate. GIG Gulf lists 800 292 on its leaflet.¹ Company details are on the GIG Gulf and Sukoon pages. If a claim is refused, see where to complain.

The small print

The GIG Gulf benefits, prices and eligibility are from its Smart Protector leaflet, linked from its personal accident page.^1,8 Prices are the insurer’s published annual amounts and may change. The Personal Accidents Endorsement is defined in the unified third party policy, and the AED 200,000 minimum is its Chapter One, clause 20.⁴ Claims under an insurance contract cannot be heard after three years from the event, under Article 966 of the Civil Transactions Law.⁷