Personal accident insurance for energy contractors

Accidents happen when you’re least expecting them and can turn your life upside down in an instant. In the worst cases, they can leave you unable to work or even cause fatality.

The energy industry is full of risks and hazards that are seldom found in other industries.

Being protected by personal accident insurance can give energy contractors peace of mind that they are insured, if they have an accident that stops them from working, by providing you with a benefit to cover loss of earnings.

What is personal accident insurance?

Personal accident insurance provides you with a monetary benefit when injury or death is caused by an accident.

If you suffer an accident and are admitted to hospital, or worse, left permanently and totally disabled, personal accident insurance can protect you and your family financially.

An accident may leave you unable to work, which as a contractor can mean no income. Personal accident insurance will cover lost income.

Personal accident insurance is also known as personal accident cover.

What injuries are covered?

Caunce O’Hara’s personal accident insurance for energy contractors covers:

• Death
• Permanent total loss of sight in one or both eyes
• Loss of one or more limbs
• Permanent total loss of speech
• Permanent total loss of hearing in one or both ears
• Permanent total disablement (other than those above)
• Temporary total disablement
• Temporary partial disablement

What accidents are covered?

A range of accidents are covered by personal accident insurance. This can be an accident that happens inside or outside of work and as a result stops you from working. Please note that accidents sustained while participating in a winter sport are sometimes excluded, depending on your policy terms and conditions.

An accident is defined as a sudden, unexpected or unusual specific event which is external to the body and occurs at an identifiable time and place.

Some examples include:

• Falling down the stairs
• Falling from a height
• An object falling on you from a height
• Injury suffered during DIY at home
• Being attacked by another person
• Being attacked by an animal
• An accident suffered after contact with machinery
• Accident suffered following a technical fault
• Slipping
• Road traffic accident

Why do energy contractors need personal accident insurance?

Carrying personal accident insurance is optional and hopefully a nasty accident isn’t something you’ll ever have to experience but unfortunately accidents are unpredictable and can change your life in the blink of an eye. For many energy contractors, you are working in an environment where you’re exposed to potential accidents each day. For contractors, the impact of having an accident and being out of work is even more serious, as you don’t have the security of sick pay.

Personal accident insurance buys you peace of mind. If you are ever caught up in an accident, you can recover at ease, knowing that the benefit under the policy you hold will keep you financially secure.

It’s not just your future that will be protected by personal accident insurance. This policy can financially protect the future of your partner and your children too.

How much does personal accident insurance cost?

The cost of personal accident insurance, like other insurance policies alters from person to person. The price of your insurance will depend on how high risk your job is, whereabouts in the world you undertake your contracts and the level of cover you’d like. We provide four different levels of cover ranging from basic to gold. Contact us today for a quote.

How much does personal accident insurance pay out?

Following a claim, payouts vary depending on the severity of your accident and the level of cover you have purchased. Personal accident insurance can pay out up to £250,000 in the case of death and from £500 a week up to £1,500 a week in the case of temporary total disablement. The amount of benefit that is paid to you will depend on your policy package. Payouts can include a broken bones benefit, burns benefit, cosmetic surgery, dependants benefit, dental expenses, facial scarring benefit, funeral expenses, home alteration benefit, medical expenses and more. You can find further information about each level of cover in the policy wording here.

Accidents that happen while you’re carrying out a hobby

As an extra precaution, you can add Hazardous Pastimes to your personal accident insurance. This covers accidents that occur from playing sports including cricket, football, hockey, horse riding, martial arts, netball, rugby, scuba diving, water sports or winter sports.

What does personal accident not cover?

Personal accident insurance does not cover sickness or illnesses including mental health illness. Cover for this would need to be gained under a separate insurance policy.

What are the benefits of personal accident insurance?

• Peace of mind
• Protects your future
• Protects your family’s future
• Takes away financial worries

Travel cover

For many energy contractors, travelling to and from your work base is an essential part of the job. Personal accident cover at Caunce O’Hara includes Business Travel benefits as a standard part of the policy. These include:

• Medical and additional expenses
• Cancellation and curtailment
• Missed or delayed departure
• Personal property and money
• Hijack, kidnap and detention

This is not a complete list; please see the policy wording for more detail. Some examples of events where energy contractors have claimed on their travel insurance include flight cancellations, luggage going missing, medical attention needed abroad for an eye injury and an injury suffered offshore that required being airlifted to the mainland.

Cover for holiday travel, as well as business travel can be purchased with our policy. This option will cover your spouse and your dependent children too.

How do I make a claim?

In the event of an accident occurring, it’s important to contact your insurer promptly. Full details of the procedure and the information required will be noted in your policy wording document.

In the situation that you are hospitalised, failure to contact the Emergency Service Company (the third party claims service we partner with to provide 24-hour support) and obtain authorisation may prejudice the claim and mean that not all the costs involved will be paid.

Our aim is to ensure that all aspects of your insurance are dealt with promptly, efficiently and fairly. At all times, we are committed to providing you with the highest standard of service.

Injury may prevent you carrying out your work and without work you may run into financial difficulties. Our innovative policy provides financial help should you suffer from an injury and also has the ability to incorporate cover for business and holiday travel worldwide in any one year for you and your family.

Please note, the Personal Accident policy provides cover for one person only (and you will be asked to provide details of the insured person). If you wanted cover for a second person, for Personal Accident & Travel, a further application would need to be completed, with their details.

For more information on Personal Accident insurance, contact our award-winning team on 0333 321 1403. They’ll be more than happy to help.

Prices stated are correct at the time of publication on 26.02.2020.

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Author Katherine Ducie, Marketing Executive