Personal Accident Insurance Claims: A Simple 4-Step Guide

No matter which personal accident insurance plan you have, nobody wants to have to make a personal accident insurance claim. But in the unfortunate case you must, here is a simple four-step guide to follow.

Most people gladly pay for insurance protection, such as medical and critical illness, while hoping they never have to use it. The same applies for personal accident insurance. While it’s great to know that you’re covered against a wide range of personal accidents (and even infectious diseases), the best-case scenario — for both you and the insurance company — is that you never have to make a claim.

But, as we all know, life is not a bed of roses, which is why we bought the insurance in the first place. So, if you do run into a spate of bad luck that ends up with you needing to make a personal accident insurance claim — such as getting into a vehicular accident, falling and twisting your knee, or contracting COVID-19 (don’t forget the other lurking infectious diseases such as Dengue) — what should you do?

The answer is to follow this step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Find out which type of benefits claim you need to make

The great thing about personal accident insurance is the many types of benefits you may be eligible for. It all depends on the extent of the injury suffered and the relevant circumstances. So, the first step is to narrow down the specific benefits you need to claim. Broadly speaking, you can split them into five categories:

1. Medical expenses
2. Total and permanent disability (TPD)
3. Death
4. Daily hospital and/or weekly income
5. Others

Keep in mind that these categories are not mutually exclusive. For instance, you can claim both medical expenses, daily hospital benefits, weekly income benefits, and others such as physiotherapy, taxi allowances, and reimbursements for accommodative home modifications. 

Plus, medical expenses can usually be split into inpatient or outpatient and overseas or local.

Step 2: Fill out the primary claims form

While individual insurers might have slightly different requirements in their claims process, all of them will need you to fill out a claims form. There will be specific claims forms for the different types of insurances, so make sure you choose the one explicitly labelled ‘Personal Accident’.

You can easily find this on the individual insurer’s website. A quick tip: just Google the following phrase: [Insurer’s Name] Singapore personal accident claim form. You can also get the form by contacting them through email or phone, but the fastest way is just to download, fill out, and submit the form online.

Step 3: Gather and submit the relevant supporting documents

This third step is the most important yet the most time-consuming part of the process. It’s also the place where most claimants make mistakes and omissions, which may delay the claims payment and thus impact their quality of life.

So, to make things as easy for our readers as possible, we have compiled a table matching the specific claim type (Step 1) with the necessary supporting documents. Please again note that variations between individual claims departments means that the table below cannot be fully exhaustive. Instead, use it for general reference.

Understand also that the way you must submit these supporting documents may vary from insurer to insurer. For instance, if you make a claim under FWD’s Personal Accident and Infectious Diseases plan, after Step 2, their claims department will contact you directly and inform you of the specific supporting documents.

Step 4: Follow up until your claims are paid out

If all the relevant supporting documents are properly submitted, then you should receive the pay out from your personal accident policy in a short period of time. But no business is perfect. Insurers are (for the moment, at least) still staffed by human beings.

This means that following up — although not strictly necessary — is often recommended. Who knows, perhaps a nicely worded follow-up message may get your claim moved up the pile. Either way, it can’t hurt, unless you forget basic common courtesy, that is.

Make things easier by choosing the right insurance plan from the start

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Make things easier for yourself by choosing the best insurance plan for you from the start. Recently, here at SingSaver, we have partnered with FWD Singapore to drop a new launch to make your personal accident coverage even more wholesome, especially at a time like this.

Read These Next:
Infectious Diseases Insurance: Best Plans to Protect Yourself
Personal Accident Insurance: What Does It Cover and Should You Buy One?
5 Types of People Who Must Get Personal Accident Insurance
[NEW] FWD Personal Accident and Infectious Disease Coverage Review (2020)
If I Get COVID-19, What Will I Need To Pay?