Personal Accident Insurance

Personal Accident Insurance is a policy to cover individuals and groups from the physical injuries and financial loss. It covers among other things death, Permanent Disability, Temporary Total Disablement, accidental medical expenses, funeral expenses, hospital cash, artificial appliances. This type of cover is a hybrid of two products, life insurance and medical insurance as it caters for bodily injuries and also covers pure financial indemnity to the insured in form of death and disability benefits. Insurance premiums for PA insurance policies have duration of one year and insurance premiums are paid annually.

Personal Accident (PA) insurance may be taken as a standalone cover or as an optional rider on other more commonly known insurance products. For example, a PA cover may be taken with a life insurance/savings product, providing financial compensation to the insured in case of the eventual risk. A PA cover is also commonly bundled on comprehensive motor insurance policies and medical insurance policies, where it covers members of the insured’s family in case they are travelling in the insured vehicle in the event of a road accident.

Personal Accident Insurance is similar to the Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA) which is a statutory insurance provided by employers to all employees in Kenya. The main difference is that it WIBA only covers employees during official working hours and duties while a PA covers the insured at all times. To remove this duplication between the two products, a newer product WIBA+ has been introduced which offers employees all round protection in and out of the office similar to a PA cover.