Guide to personal accident and sickness insurance for truck drivers
If you drive a truck for a living, being unable to work after an injury or sickness can affect your income quickly. For owner-drivers, business costs may continue even when you are not behind the wheel.
Personal accident and sickness insurance can provide financial support in certain circumstances when a covered injury or sickness leaves you unable to work. Depending on the cover selected, it may also help with eligible ongoing business expenses.
What you should know
Truck driving comes with significant workplace risks. Safe Work Australia states that fatality rate in the 10 years to 2023, more truck drivers died from work-related injuries than any other occupation in Australia.
Safe Work Australia also reports: These fatalities were mainly attributed to ‘Vehicle incidents’, which make up nearly three quarters (74%) of all traumatic injury fatalities involving truck drivers.
Health and fitness matter too. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator states: Under the HVNL, a person must not drive a heavy vehicle on a road while impaired by fatigue or unfit to drive.
This makes it useful to understand how personal accident and sickness insurance works and where its limits sit.
How can personal accident and sickness insurance help?
Weekly benefits may be available if a covered injury or sickness results in total disability and the policy conditions are met.
The amount payable depends on how your cover is arranged, your pre-disability earnings and the benefit shown on your policy schedule.
An excess period applies before weekly payments begin. No benefit is paid for or during that period.
It is worth thinking about how you would manage household and business costs while you are unable to work.
Are injury and sickness treated differently?
Yes. Injury and sickness benefits work differently.
A covered injury following an accident may lead to a Weekly Injury Benefit if you become totally disabled. In certain circumstances, a partial disability benefit may also apply after you have first been totally disabled because of the injury.
Weekly Sickness Benefit applies where a covered sickness results in total disability. A Weekly Sickness Benefit is not paid for partial disability.
Being unable to drive does not automatically mean you meet the definition of total disability. The definitions and conditions in your policy are important.
What should owner-drivers consider?
For an owner-driver, the financial impact may go beyond lost personal income.
Business Expenses Cover may be available if you have Section 1 cover and become totally disabled in circumstances covered by the policy.
Eligible expenses can include:
- Employees’ wages and superannuation
- Rent and certain utilities
- Lease payments for equipment or motor vehicles
- Some other usual business expenses
Not every business cost is included. Personal expenses, depreciation, capital equipment purchases and certain replacement-worker costs are excluded.
Can other payments affect your benefit?
Yes. Other payments can reduce the weekly benefit.
These may include workers compensation or accident compensation benefits, certain disability entitlements, insurance payments for the same injury or sickness, other income and paid sick leave.
If you already receive other insurance or compensation payments, check how they may interact with your personal accident and sickness cover.
What about serious injuries?
Capital Benefit Cover may be available for specified serious outcomes caused by an injury, if that cover has been selected.
Depending on your policy schedule, this can include accidental death, permanent total disablement and certain permanent losses.
Capital benefits relate to injury rather than sickness. Other injury-related benefits may also apply in particular circumstances, subject to the policy terms.
What may not be covered?
Personal accident and sickness insurance does not cover every situation.
Exclusions include pre-existing conditions, certain alcohol or drug-related circumstances, deliberate or illegal acts and deliberately self-inflicted injury or sickness.
Your occupation also matters. If you change occupations, you should check whether you need to tell the insurer because this may affect your cover or its terms.
Is personal accident cover the same as truck insurance?
No. They deal with different risks.
Truck insurance can include Commercial Motor, Public and Products Liability, Carriers Protect and Downtime cover.
Commercial Motor cover deals with loss or damage to insured property and certain liabilities arising from the use of registered insured property, subject to the policy terms.
Downtime cover provides “Payment of a Weekly Benefit if Your claim for Loss or Damage to Your Vehicle has been accepted under the Commercial Motor Policy.”
Personal accident and sickness insurance focuses on the insured person and their ability to work following a covered injury or sickness.
For an owner-driver, there are two separate questions to consider: what happens if your truck cannot work, and what happens if you cannot work?
What may you need to make a claim?
A claim should be notified as soon as reasonably possible after an injury or sickness that may give rise to a claim.
You may need medical certification, evidence of pre-disability earnings and details of other income or insurance payments.
If you are claiming eligible business expenses, you may also need records showing those expenses before and after the disability.
Keeping clear financial and business records can make it easier to provide the information requested during a claim.
