Is personal accident insurance waste of money or not?

[knonist]

I am thinking of increasing my level of protection to accident as I cycle to work a lot.

I do not have a car or a house so I cannot get the cover under the related insurances.

Have been browsing around for a while for a decent product, and the payout isn’t that much either.

(I’m in my mid twenties, and am looking for round £200-250K if I lost my ability continue with my current career due to a serious accdient, i.e. if I lost a few fingers then I will be no good working in a lab.)

But some comments said they are pointless as they don’t pay out.

I have seen some policy provided by the banks at a cost of around £10 per month, but they only cover lost of total work ability.

I have contacted some brokers and they have quoted me policies that cost about £80 a month, as soon as I mentioned the polices I saw with a lower price, they will go away and never come back to me.

So I would like to know a few thing,

Is this type of policy a waste of money?

Is there much difference in purchasing the policy through a broker or a bank?

Any recommendation of a decent insurer? (I mean for one they won’t reject your claim when you really need it )

[Endymion]

Personally, I can't see the point. If you are injured by a third party then you just claim off them.

 

You only really need it if you are going to injure yourself and is that going to be likely? Are you injury prone or a suicidal bike rider?

[knonist]

well, if i got hit by a car and if it ran away (i ride in unlitted country lane, with light on, of course), then I'm screwed.

[Endymion]

If that happened that you should be able to make a Criminal Injuries Claim although that would be limited to £500,000. Is this too little?

 

Plus you could also make a claim through the MIB on the untraced drivers agreement which is not limited although you will have to pay an excess (can't remember how much).

[knonist]

If that happened that you should be able to make a Criminal Injuries Claim although that would be limited to £500,000. Is this too little?

 

Plus you could also make a claim through the MIB on the untraced drivers agreement which is not limited although you will have to pay an excess (can't remember how much).

 

Even if I dont know who the driver was?

If so, no wonder why people said it is a "pointless" insurance.

 

Can you think of any other situation where I might need it?

[Endymion]

Yup, even if you don't know who the driver was or the car reg, you can still make a claim.

 

This explains it in more detail:-

 

Frequently asked questions about the Untraced Drivers' Agreements

 

The only cover I would consider getting is for serious illness. But that's my personal thoughts.

[knonist]

Yup, even if you don't know who the driver was or the car reg, you can still make a claim.

 

This explains it in more detail:-

 

Frequently asked questions about the Untraced Drivers' Agreements

 

The only cover I would consider getting is for serious illness. But that's my personal thoughts.

 

Thanks!

But for the untraced drivers agreements, I couldnt find any information of how much I can get if I had an accident with an untraced driver?

 

I just want to make sure it would cover everything I may need.

[Endymion]

It doesn't say an amount as it depends on what injuries you have and how that effects your income, ability to work and any disadvantage on the open labour market.

 

If you have a serious injury that stops you from working then you will be able to claim for your injuries and then on top of that you will be able to claim your loss of earnings and other associated losses such as care and assistance, equipment and/or property (i.e. bungalow if you need home without stairs etc), travel expenses, past and future medication costs etc etc....

 

Conversely, if you injuries are minor then you will receive a low award for damages.

 

There is no limit really as to what you can claim so long as you can justify it and have mitigated your circumstances.

 

The MIB have settled many large cases where damages run into the millions.