Pays a lump sum for accidental death or permanent disability, and a weekly amount if you cannot work temporarily. It is astonishingly cheap — about ₹1,900 a year for ₹50 L — because accidents are rarer than illness. It is also the only cover that pays for disability, which is financially worse than death and far more likely.

Premiums and claim-settlement ratios are illustrative until sourced from the insurer of record.

Read this before you buy.

• Illness of any kind — this pays only for accidents
• Self-inflicted injury, and injury while under the influence
• Adventure sports and hazardous activity unless specifically declared
• Injury while committing a crime, or in war and civil unrest

Accident claims are decided on proof that the cause was accidental and on a fixed disability scale. The scale is printed in the policy — a lost thumb is 25%, a lost leg is 50%, and there is no negotiation.

1. 01

   FIR or accident record

   · day 1

   For a road accident, an FIR. For a workplace injury, the employer’s accident register. Without a contemporaneous record, proving the cause becomes very hard.

2. 02

   Treatment and medical records

   · weeks 1–4

   Keep everything. For disability claims the treating doctor’s assessment of permanence is the document the whole claim rests on.

3. 03

   Disability assessed on the scale

   · after stabilisation

   Insurers wait until the condition is stable, usually three to six months, before assessing permanence. Temporary benefit is paid weekly meanwhile.

4. 04

   Lump sum paid

   · 4–8 weeks

   Tax-free. Death claims pay the nominee in full; disability claims pay you according to the scale, plus any weekly benefit already accrued.