Compulsory Personal Accident Cover

A compulsory personal accident or PA cover is an add-on cover that provides protection against any accidental injuries to the owner-driver of an insured car. It provides compensation in case the owner-driver of the car suffers from bodily injuries, permanent disability or death following the car accident.

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What Does Personal Accident Cover in Car Insurance Mean?

A personal accident cover being a mandatory cover provides coverage for medical expenses if the owner-driver of the car gets injured in an accident. It comes as an add-on cover that a comprehensive or a third party liability car insurance policyholder can purchase by paying an extra amount in the premium.

Benefits of Personal Accident Cover for Owner/ Driver

Here are some of the benefits of PA cover for owner or driver of the car.

• PA cover is the best protection option when it comes to securing yourself from any accidental injuries
• If you meet with an accident while driving your car, personal accident cover will provide you with financial aid to help you cover medical expenses incurred during your treatment, including hospitalization charges, treatment costs and medical bills.
• It will also provide you with monetary compensation in case you end up suffering from a permanent disability as a result of the accident.
• PA cover for owner driver will also provide compensation to the surviving members of your family in case the car accident results in your death.

Is Personal Accident Cover Mandatory for Owner-Drivers?

In India, it is mandatory for all the car owners to own a personal accident cover for the owner driver. This cover needs to be purchased irrespective of whether you are buying a third-party liability-only policy or a comprehensive policy for your car. If you don’t own a PA cover under your car insurance, you will be liable for legal action under the law of the country.

The whole idea behind a PA cover is to ensure that all car owners are covered against personal accidents up to the minimum mandated coverage limit. As per the India Motor Tariff 2002, personal accident cover is issued compulsorily with every car insurance policy. Therefore, it is granted as part of the comprehensive policy as well as the third-party liability-only policy.

Personal Accident Compensation for Owner-Driver

Currently, all car owners are required to buy a personal accident cover of Rs.15 lakh as per the guidelines issued by IRDAI or the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. The IRDAI has fixed the compensation of PA cover at Rs. 15 lakh following an order from the Madras High Court in September 2018.

The details of compensation offered under PA cover for Owner Driver and Passengers as per nature of bodily injuries are given below:

Premium Cost of Personal Accident Cover

Presently, the premium for a personal accident cover of Rs. 15 lakh is fixed at Rs. 750. The IRDAI has fixed this premium amount for PA cover under the bundled car insurance policies for all types of cars. However, motor insurance companies have been granted the liberty to decide the premium for unbundled or standalone personal accident cover.

Thus, the premium amount for the PA cover can be higher in the case of unbundled and standalone covers. Therefore, going for a bundled car insurance policy is beneficial if you don’t own a personal accident cover. Buying a standalone personal accident cover can turn out to be quite expensive for you.

No Need to Buy PA Cover More Than Once

As of 1st January 2019, the IRDAI unbundled personal accident cover allowing car owners to skip buying the PA cover if they already own one. Let us break it down for you.

Suppose you have two cars and purchased a PA cover while insuring the first car, you don’t have to buy it again while insuring your second car.

Earlier, personal accident cover came as an in-built component of a car insurance policy. As a result, car owners had to purchase a PA cover every time they purchased car insurance for a new car in addition to the existing car(s). This led to multiple PA covers providing the same coverage but coming at an additional premium cost.

Making note of this unnecessary cost borne by the owners of more than one car, the IRDAI decided to unbundle personal accident cover from car insurance allowing people to buy the cover only once.

PA Cover for Paid Driver/ Passengers

What if you have hired a paid driver to take you around and he gets injured in an accident? Well, there are guidelines for paid drivers too.

As per the Workman Compensation Act, the owner of the car or the employer is liable to pay compensation to the paid driver in case he gets injured in an accident while driving his/her employer’s car.

To help you combat such a situation, motor insurance companies offer personal accident cover for paid drivers as an add-on cover. Your insurer will take care of any liabilities towards your paid driver under this cover. However, you will be required to pay an additional premium to buy this cover.

Similarly, a car owner can also protect passengers in a car from accidental injuries by opting for Passengers Cover at an additional premium. This premium under the Personal Accident Cover fluctuates depending on the seating capacity of the car.

The details of the additional covers offered for paid drivers and passengers are given in the below-mentioned table:

Why buy from Policybazaar Insurance Brokers Private Limited?

• 24x7 Claims Assistance: Our claims experts are now available 24x7 to help you with claim intimation and status updates.
• Cashless Assurance: Call us and you will get a "Delivery Order" for a cashless facility for repairs at any garage across India. In the rare cases of cashless not being provided to you, the claim reimbursement will be paid within 24/48 working hours’ post submitting documents/original invoice as mentioned against the respective Insurer.
• 3-Day Repair Assurance: Your car will be repaired at a trusted garage and will be delivered back to you within 3 working days.
• Free Pickup & Drop: Call us when you need a claim and a garage partner will pick up and drop your car.
• Self-Video Claims: We have made the claims process cooler and smoother. Simply upload a video of your damage through our PB Claims app and we will take care of the rest.
• Windshield Claims at Home: Call us when you have a windshield replacement claim and the garage partner will replace the windshield at your home itself.