Benefits of Student Accident Insurance

Accidents aren't supposed to happen…but they do. 

Will your school be prepared when it happens? The twisted ankle when a student is participating in sports practice? The broken leg when someone slips and falls while the students are getting ready to go on their first field trip of the year? The basketball that gets thrown a little too aggressively at recess or gym class and one of the children ends up with a few teeth missing?  We could go on and on. These are not the things you should have to worry about.

Our children are our greatest resource and, as such, deserve programs and activities that allow them to expand and grow in all aspects of their lives. They also deserve the protection that should something happen, there will be funds there to assist with medical bills. 

Your school should be protected should there be an accident while the students are under your care, at all times, but especially when they are participating in sports.

Student Accident Medical coverage is just that – if there is an accident, it pays for the medical expenses incurred to treat that injury. Most policies pay at least up to $25,000 per person per injury. 

There is usually no deductible, and the coverage pays for expenses that are incurred for up to one year from the date of injury. Of course, there are plans that offer limits much higher, as well, some to $5,000,000.

The benefits paid for the specific bills are based on the Reasonable and Customary charges that are for your specific geographical area. 

If mom and dad have other coverage for their child that would also take care of some or all of the bills incurred, the parents' insurance would pay first. 

Then, if there are deductibles or co-pay amounts, the Student Accident Medical insurance would cover those. 

If the parents had no other insurance covering the student, the Student Accident policy would respond as a Primary plan.

The reason the carrier writes the program Excess to other insurance plans is so that they can keep the price as low as possible. Covering all students on an Excess policy allows the insurance carrier to be Excess when it is appropriate and pass those savings in claims unto the school in the pricing of their Student Accident program.

With medical bills rising as they are, and insurance plans not always covering 100 percent of the charges, when someone is hurt, the injured party wants to ensure their bills are paid. If their own insurance is not covering the bills, they will look for other means. 

And, so, if there is no Student Accident coverage in force, lawsuits can be filed against schools, teachers, and volunteers. This is not something the school normally budgets for.

And, it's not something a school has time for. Your focus is teaching and helping the students to enhance their skills and individual development. Lawsuits are probably the furthest thing from a school leader's mind.

In liability claims, someone has to show the court that the school and their teachers were not negligent. That person is an attorney, and an attorney has a fee for his time. What a school has to realize is that even if they are sued and the claim is found to be invalid, someone has to pay for those attorney fees. Why risk these types of suits?

All of this may see a bit unsettling, but there are easy ways to provide a group with the appropriate coverage at a reasonable cost, to give them the "peace of mind" that allows them to do what they love to do – work with the children. Student Accident coverage has been helping to provide that "peace of mind" for many years at very reasonable costs.

This article is courtesy of Christian Schools Insurance, a division of Special Markets Insurance Consultants, Inc., www.christianschoolsinsurance.com.