Today, air travelers around the world often take to the skies with the added peace of mind supplied by flight accident insurance coverage. This area of travel insurance involves some complexity.
Many flight accident coverage policies fall into two broad categories: coverage for accidental death occurring during airline travel, or protection for accidental death and dismemberment.
Two General Types of Coverage
Many flight accident coverage travel insurance policies will indemnify survivors only for the accidental death of the insured during an airline flight. In some countries the policy establishes a set indemnification limit per accident. Sometimes, an insured person may enjoy the opportunity to purchase accidental flight insurance as an extra provision of more general travel coverage.
Other flight accident coverage policies adopt a more holistic approach and cover the insured for “accidental death or dismemberment”. Although this term sounds rather formal, in addition to indemnifying for accidental death flying, this type of policy usually covers someone injured in accidents that result in the permanent loss of one or more hands or feet. Many of these policies will also protect against air accidents in which the insured permanently loses vision in one or both eyes.
Many Providers
Nervous fliers take some comfort in the fact that experts estimate the risk of sustaining a fatal accident aboard a commercial airline at one in 11 million. Additionally, flight accident coverage remains a very common type of protection. Some credit card companies routinely include this type of coverage as a benefit for their card holders. Consumers sometimes save money on premiums by double checking to make certain they avoid duplicate coverage.
If you desire this type of travel insurance, some travel authorities recommend looking for an insurance provider without an affiliation to a specific transportation company or travel agency. With many insurers available, it often pays to search carefully for the best coverage to meet your needs.
Check With Your Policy Provider
It remains useful for anyone seeking this type of protection to read the provisions of an individual policy closely and inquire at the time of purchase about the full extent of coverage. For instance, some accidental death and dismemberment policies cover an entire day, while others remain limited only to “in-flight” accidents. Provisions often vary significantly from one provider to another.
