Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D)

Accidental death and dismemberment cover responds to the most severe accident outcomes. It pays a lump sum to your beneficiaries if an accident causes death, and a scheduled lump sum to you if an accident causes a permanent physical loss, such as losing a hand, a foot, sight in an eye, or hearing.

Its job is to put a known amount of cash in the right hands at the worst moment: money your dependants can use to replace lost income and steady the household after an accidental death, or that you can use to adapt to a permanent disability that changes how you live and work.

AD&D is narrower than a full personal accident plan because it focuses on death and major permanent losses rather than everyday medical bills or short-term injuries. That focus is why it is often bundled inside a PA plan, offered as a rider on a life policy, or provided as a group benefit through an employer.

AD&D is rarely sold entirely on its own; it is most often the death-and-disablement section of a personal accident plan, a rider attached to a term or whole life policy, or a group benefit from an employer or association. You set a sum assured, and the schedule of benefits defines what percentage of it each type of loss pays.

Death from an accident pays 100% of the sum assured. A continuous-scale schedule then assigns percentages to permanent losses: total and permanent disablement at the top, with progressively smaller percentages for the loss of specific limbs, digits, or senses. Some plans pay an enhanced multiple for deaths on public transport or while travelling overseas.

Premiums are paid in cash and priced largely by occupation and chosen cover amount. Because the trigger is strictly accidental, AD&D excludes death or disability from illness, natural causes, suicide, and usually hazardous pursuits, which keeps the cost low but means it should never be mistaken for full life or disability cover.