Personal accident insurance in the Philippines

Personal accident insurance pays when an accident causes death, a disablement such as losing a limb or your sight, or medical costs. It pays nothing for illness. That makes it narrower than life or health cover.

In the Insurance Code, personal accident cover is a kind of casualty insurance when a non-life company writes it (Sec. 176), and life companies can write it too (Sec. 193).

What it pays

Policies are built from a few common benefits:

• Accidental death. The full sum insured is paid to your beneficiaries if an accident causes your death, usually within a set number of days of the accident.
• Disablement. A schedule in the policy lists injuries, such as the loss of a hand, a foot or the sight of an eye, and the share of the sum insured paid for each. Total and permanent disability from an accident usually pays the full sum.
• Medical reimbursement. Pays back medical costs from the accident, up to a limit per accident.
• Burial help. Some policies pay a fixed amount toward funeral costs after an accidental death.
• Daily hospital income. Some pay a fixed amount for each day in hospital because of an accident.

The policy’s schedule of benefits sets each amount, so read it before you buy.

What it leaves out

• Illness. A death or disability from an illness is not covered, even a sudden one such as a heart attack or stroke, unless the policy says otherwise.
• Common exclusions seen in policies: self-inflicted injury, injury while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, war and riots, dangerous sports or activities named in the policy, and injury while committing a crime.
• Some jobs. Policies can exclude or charge more for work they count as hazardous.
• Age limits. Policies set ages for joining and renewing.

Accident, life and health cover side by side

Scroll the table sideways for more

These describe how each kind usually works. A given policy can differ.

Where it is often bundled

Accident cover often comes with something else you already have:

• Credit cards and bank accounts, where it is a perk that can change or end.
• Travel insurance, for accidents during the trip only.
• The compulsory insurance for agency-hired OFWs. The law requires insurance for agency-hired workers, at no cost to the worker, that includes accidental death and permanent total disablement (RA 8042 Sec. 37-A, added by RA 10022).

Check how long bundled cover lasts and how much it pays before you count on it.

Before you sign

Where a free look period applies to a product, the Insurance Commission’s rules set its length: 15 days from receiving the policy for cover longer than six months, five days for cover longer than 30 days up to six months, and none for 30 days or less, with a full refund if no claim has been made (IC Insurance Memorandum Circular 2023-01). Ask the insurer whether the policy has one; the policy states it.

For cover that pays on death from any cause, see term life insurance.

For a lump sum on a serious illness, see critical illness insurance.

This page explains how personal accident insurance generally works. It does not describe any company’s product.