What is personal accident insurance?
Personal accident insurance is a type of UK commercial cover. It may help in the event of an accidental injury. It’s designed to protect:
- Business owners
- Self-employed people
- Sole traders
- Freelancers.
Running your own business brings responsibilities. Personal accident insurance could pay out a sum if you or a named employee can’t work due to an accident.
For example, if you get injured and are unable to take on a job, our cover could provide weekly payments of up to £250 if you can’t work for more than two weeks.
For permanent injuries, personal injury insurance might also help with:
- Medical expenses
- Costs to retrain
- A lump sum in cases of permanent disability or death.
Do I need personal accident cover?
You may need personal accident cover if other people rely on your ability to work. Or if the vitality of your firm depends on it.
Personal accident insurance might be particularly useful to small firms and sole traders. Without cover, they may lack the financial resources to tackle unexpected events. Their business could even fail if key staff can’t work.
Hiscox is rated 4.8/5 by real customers on Feefo over the past year, with 3574 total reviews.
What does personal accident insurance cover?
Personal accident insurance covers you for costs relating to injuries caused by accidents. These may be temporary or permanent injuries, to you or other insured staff. This cover can even help when accidents aren’t work-related.
Say you’re injured playing sport and can’t work for more than two weeks. We could provide weekly payments until you return. We might also be able to help with rehabilitation costs to help you recover.
Permanent injuries can have a big impact on small businesses. Fortunately, personal accident insurance can provide support. If someone loses their hearing or use of a limb, this cover can provide a one-off payment. In this scenario, we could also help with recruitment costs to minimise interruptions.
Some types of work may no longer be possible after certain injuries. For example, building, carpentry or hairdressing. If you or a staff member need to retrain, personal accident cover may help fund this.
How much personal accident cover will I need?
You can set any value for your personal accident cover between £5,000 and £100,000.
It shows what we’d pay as a lump sum if someone was permanently injured by an accident and couldn’t work again. The right value for you will depend on the nature of your business. Consider the potential disruption if you or your team can no longer work.
Need to change your policy at a later date? We can action this with no admin fee. Your policy premium may go up or down.
What's included in your personal accident cover?
There are several types of personal accident cover. Group personal accident insurance can cover an entire management team. Individual packages are more for small business owners and sole traders.
We’ll cover you if:
- An insured person is permanently disabled or killed. Whether the accident occurs at work or not
- An insured person suffers an injury that leaves them temporarily disabled and unable to work
- One of your insured employees requires retraining to start a new career due to permanent injuries
- Your employee incurs medical expenses
- There are funeral expenses, including costs to repatriate someone.
What’s not included in your personal accident cover?
We won’t make any payment for physical injuries caused or contributed to by:
- Taking drugs or controlled substances
- Suicide, attempted suicide or deliberate self-injury
- Any criminal act by the insured person, by you or on your behalf
- Any physical defect, infirmity or medical condition known to the insured person when your policy begins. Unless it has been without the need of any medical advice or treatment in the previous 24 months
- Extreme sports or leisure activities, as listed in the policy wording
- Armed forces activities, including operations, exercises or training
- Flying as a pilot or aircrew or any other aerial activities, other than by commercial airlines as a passenger.
Please refer to the policy documents for the full details of inclusions and exclusions of this cover. Policy documents are available when purchasing online. You can also contact our customer services team for more information.
Personal accident insurance FAQs
How much does personal accident insurance cost?
The cost of personal accident insurance differs, so we can’t give you an average figure. Hiscox business insurance starts from £8.40* a month. The size and nature of your business could affect the cost.
*Figures based on an average of all business insurance policies sold to at least 10% of our customer base between April 2023 and April 2024.
How can I pay for personal accident insurance from Hiscox?
You can pay for Hiscox personal accident cover in three ways:
- Debit card
- Monthly direct debit
- Annual direct debit.
We’ll ask for your chosen method and details when you apply. You might be able to pick a specific payment date.
Is personal accident insurance a legal requirement?
Personal accident insurance isn’t required by law. Meanwhile, it isn’t generally required as a condition of membership by professional bodies.
This cover is about planning for unpredictable scenarios. It could help minimise disruption to your operations and finances.
Is personal accident insurance tax deductible?
No, personal accident insurance isn’t tax deductible. It is not classed as a business expense. This is because it provides cover to the business for named individuals.
Personal injury insurance is unlike other business insurance types, which are tax deductible. These include employers’ liability and public liability insurance.
When should I get personal accident insurance?
You may want to consider personal accident insurance straight away if your existing business relies on key people.
It might also be relevant when embarking on a new venture. Consider arranging individual personal accident insurance as soon as you earn money that you rely on. You may want to think about the impact to your personal or family finances if you were unable to work.
Personal accident articles and guides
Business insurance terms
Need business insurance? Industry jargon can be confusing. Read our glossary of business insurance terms to learn more.
How to register a business in the UK
Looking to launch a small business? Learn more with our guide to registering a business in the UK.
What business insurance do I need?
Each industry faces specific risks. Explore the key types of business insurance for your sector.