NCD AccidentPrime

Not available in Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Mexico, Utah, Washington. Call us and we will tell you what we can place there.

Every benefit below is transcribed from the NCD AccidentPrime product overviews NWFAAPPOB5-25-01, NWFAAPPOB7.5-25-01, NWFAAPPOB10-25-01 and NWFAAPPOB15-25-01. Benefits, amounts and riders vary by state; the policy issued to you governs.

• Read this first: the document gives two different ages at which it ends Included

  One page says coverage terminates at age 65. Another page of the same document says benefits decrease at age 65 and coverage terminates at age 70. Both sentences are the carrier's and we are not going to choose between them for you.

  Plan on 65. It is the narrower of the two and it is the one printed on the page a buyer reads first — and ask us to get the answer in writing before you buy, because the difference is five years of cover. Either way this is not a policy to carry into Medicare: the accident policies on our supplemental pages are issued to 74 and 84 and renew to 80 and for life.

• It reimburses what the accident cost, rather than paying a set amount Included

  Accident Medical Expense cover pays the medical expenses of a covered accident up to a maximum per covered person per accident, with a $0 deductible. Four maximums are sold: $5,000, $7,500, $10,000 and $15,000.

  This is the opposite design from the accident policies on our supplemental pages, which pay a fixed amount for each listed injury whatever the bill comes to. Neither is better. A fixed schedule can pay more than the bill and can also leave a gap; this pays the bill and stops at the ceiling.

• The clock on a claim Included

  First treatment must be within 90 days of the accidental injury, emergency care within 72 hours of the accident, and the medical expenses must be incurred within 52 weeks of the injury.

  Three separate deadlines, and the 72-hour one is the easiest to miss. An injury that seems minor on the day and is treated a week later is outside the emergency care window.

• Accidental death and dismemberment Included

  A principal sum of $10,000. Dismemberment pays a percentage of it: both hands or both feet, one hand and one foot, one hand or foot plus the sight of one eye, the sight of both eyes, or speech and hearing in both ears each pay 100%; speech or hearing in both ears 50%; one hand, one foot or the sight of one eye 50%; the thumb and index finger of the same hand 25%; hearing in one ear 25%.

  Where a spouse or domestic partner is covered the death benefit is 100% of the member's; where children are covered it is 100% for them too, under the tier selected.

• Paralysis Included

  Quadriplegia pays 100% of the principal sum, triplegia 75%, paraplegia 75%, hemiplegia 50% and uniplegia 25%.

• Emergency transportation and emergency treatment Included

  Ambulance transport to a hospital or satellite emergency centre within 24 hours of an accident pays $500. Medically necessary emergency treatment within 24 hours pays an additional $300 in cash.

  Each is payable once per accident per covered person, to a maximum of two a calendar year.

• Only the largest benefit is paid Included

  If more than one covered loss results from the same accident, only one benefit is paid — the largest. Where a single loss is payable under more than one benefit, the most payable in total is the principal sum.

  Worth reading twice against the schedule above. The listed percentages do not add up across a single accident.

• What the accident medical expense benefit will not pay for Not covered

  Cosmetic, plastic or restorative surgery unless medically necessary to treat the injury; anything related to pregnancy unless medically necessary to treat the injury; anything covered by workers' compensation or employer liability law; travel outside the United States; personal comfort items; treatment by a person related to you; dental care unless medically necessary to treat the injury; eye examinations, glasses, contact lenses and hearing aids on the same condition; routine physicals and elective or experimental treatment; medical repatriation; psychological or psychiatric treatment of any kind; custodial services; repairing or replacing existing prosthetics; repetitive motion injuries; and Osgood-Schlatter's disease.

  Travel outside the United States is the one most people are surprised by. This pays nothing abroad.

• And what no benefit under the policy will pay for Not covered

  Suicide or intentionally self-inflicted injury; war or any act of war; active military service beyond thirty-one consecutive days; illness or disease however contracted, and the medical treatment of it, except for accidentally eating contaminated food; participation in a felony or an illegal occupation; parasailing, bungee jumping, heli-skiing, scuba diving or anything else reasonably deemed extrahazardous; being legally intoxicated while operating a motorised vehicle; being under the influence of a prescription drug taken other than as prescribed, or of a controlled substance or hallucinogen; a cardiovascular event or stroke caused by exertion before or at the same time as an accident; and alcoholism or drug addiction.

• The membership benefits are not insurance, and they tier up Included

  Every tier carries 20% off selected complementary and alternative medicine — acupuncture, chiropractic care, massage, nutritional counselling, meditation and naturopathy — and emergency travel assistance for trips of under 90 days more than 100 miles from home, covering medical evacuation, referrals, repatriation and legal support. From $7,500 up, discounted medical imaging and gastroenterology — MRI, CT, colonoscopy. From $10,000 up, discounted lab tests through DirectLabs. On the $15,000 tier only, steeper chiropractic discounts through Uni-Care: a free initial consultation and up to 40% off diagnostic services.

  In the carrier’s own words: “The services described above are not insurance and are not provided by Zurich American Insurance Company.” A discount is not a benefit, cannot be claimed on. They are not part of the policy and no benefit under the policy depends on them. They should carry no weight in choosing a maximum — pick the cover you need and treat the perks as incidental. Emergency travel assistance is not available to members in Connecticut, Florida or New York.

AccidentPrime on its own page, with its own enrollment link.

Issue ages

The documents we hold give no minimum issue age. What they give is when it ends, and they give two different answers — see the first benefit below. Cover is bought through membership of the NWFA, and what you hold is a certificate under a group policy rather than an individual policy.

Underwriting

No deductible and no waiting period. The documents we hold set out no health questions at all; they set out what is excluded instead, which is the shape accident cover usually takes.

Policy form

NWFAAPPOB5-25-01, NWFAAPPOB7.5-25-01, NWFAAPPOB10-25-01, NWFAAPPOB15-25-01. Form numbers and benefits vary by state.