This year started off with a bang, or a break as it were. While holidaying in Nelson a mountain bike accident resulted in a broken arm for me.

 

While this was potentially one of the least dramatic mountain bike crashes in the history of cycling, it still resulted in a fracture of my radius up near the elbow. 

 

This wasn’t the start to the year that I had hoped for, but the way I had structured my insurance cover worked exactly as expected.

 

With my ACC CoverPlus Extra policy, I had taken a medium level of cover as the savings with the lowest level of cover, were not significant. This means that I received a weekly sum that helped me pay for additional administration support, transport when I couldn’t drive, and helped factor in the lost use of time with typing one-handed and not being able to write.

 

There are two main practical benefits of the ACC CoverPlus Extra that I found while recovering:

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• Weekly compensation set up - the set up for the payment of my weekly compensation was very easy, as my level of cover was predetermined so there was no need to provide financial accounts or evidence of taxable earnings.

• Ongoing compensation - with a CoverPlus Extra policy, the benefit continues at the same amount until you are cleared fully fit for your normal duties. This means that there is no requirement to show how much or how little work you are doing or how productive this actually is, which again makes a quick and easy claims.

 

Of course I had my key person/income protection cover that would have kicked in the down the track if the injury continued, or required further treatment. This was pretty straight forward, but it wouldn’t have taken much for an accident like this to be more severe - it could have resulted in a bang on the head, which even with a minor head injury, symptoms can still last for a very long time. If my break was displaced and fixation and surgery was required, then the recovery could also have been much longer.

 

Like CoverPlus Extra another handy additional benefit that some insurers offer  on income protection is specified injury cover. This means that if you fracture or break a significant bone (eg wrist, arm, leg, skull), you receive your monthly benefit as one lump sum. The more significant the injury, the bigger the lump sum, from one month to 12 months for serious injuries and loss of limbs. A number of insurers have this and it can be very useful particularly if you have a long wait period before any benefit will start.