Health & Accident Underwriting Managers have introduced the new ‘Groundbreaker Personal Accident Cover’, specifically designed to cater for the responsible farm owner, covering employees in the event of an injury, disability or death as a result of an accident.
Groundbreaker ‘for life on the farm’ is the most comprehensive personal accident cover currently available on the market along with the highest levels of cover and an extensive list of additional benefits. It has one of the highest entry ages of 75 and termination age of 80 years. It operates on the same basis as a group scheme and overcomes many of the obstacles often experienced in the agricultural sector with regard to group scheme personal accident insurance cover, such as the use of temporary labourers and seasonal workforce fluctuations, proximity to financial services institutions and access to banking services for employees and so on. Up until the introduction of Groundbreaker, while farmers were able to access products such as medical aid for their employees, nothing existed in terms of personal accident cover on a group scheme basis.
“With the Groundbreaker policy, the employer is the policy holder and responsible for the payment of premiums in lieu of the number of employees specified on the policy. In addition, all claim benefits are payable to the policyholder and not the employees or members. While the premiums are tax deductible for the policyholder, any benefits payable to the policyholder are deemed income and hence taxable. However, once the benefits are paid over to the employee or their dependents, any such payment is deemed a cost/out-go and as such results in a tax neutral position for the policyholder,” explains Adrian Hofman, Managing Director of Health & Accident.
Groundbreaker offers financial compensation to the Insured in the event that an employee or specified key employees are injured and as a result unable to work, or dies as a result of their injuries. These injuries are covered on a 24-hour basis. “Groundbreaker is specifically designed to help organisations reduce the potential for financial losses resulting from such situations, while displaying the magnanimity of the company. In addition, Groundbreaker overcomes many of the obstacles usually imposed by the standard insurance products available on the market, for example medical health checks and having access to broker services and so on, often a challenge given that most farms are in rural areas and far from business centres. Groundbreaker overcomes many of the logistical challenges inherent with life on the farm,” says Adrian.
The Groundbreaker Group Personal Accident Cover for a start does not require a monthly list of all employees or members to be included in the policy. The monthly/annual premiums are matched to the number of employees/members to be covered and these figures are then reconciled prior to the policy renewal – for example if the number of persons to be covered is less than those paid for a credit will be passed, if the figure is more, then an additional premium is added to the renewal premium. In addition, no preliminary health checks or questionnaires are required for this cover. “Essentially this policy covers a nominated group of individuals for specified benefits against a range of accidental disabilities,” explains Adrian.
Under the Group Personal Accident cover, Accidental Death is covered under the primary benefit and coverage for Accidental Permanent Disability, Temporary Disability and Accidental Medical Reimbursement can be included for an additional premium. If an injury occurs while the employee/member is performing their work duties, which may result in a claim under the benefits listed as Accidental Temporary Total Disablement or Accidental Medical Expenses, such a claim must first be submitted to COID (Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases).The Policy will then pay part of any shortfall of the claim submitted to COID. The other benefits are fully payable, regardless of whether the injury occurs on work duty or not.
In addition to the standard benefits, additional extensions are automatically included covering trauma counselling, emergency transportation/rescue, disappearance (benefit paid for the disappearance of an insured person), Temporary Drivers Extension, repatriation/body transportation, mobility, retraining, claims preparation costs, crime extension benefit, hospital confinement, home convalescence, unconsciousness benefit which pays out for every day the insured person is unconscious in hospital, recruitment expense and/or relocation costs and permanent disfigurement.
“From an HR management perspective, managing the shortage of skills, the cost of training, the reputational and productivity impacts of staff turnover and so on create a complex operating environment in any business, including in the agri-sector. Attracting and retaining the best qualified individuals calls for innovative means to enhance the employee – employer relationship and this is where the benefits of a personal accident group scheme can add tremendous value,” concludes Adrian.
For more information contact your broker or call Health & Accident on 011-234 7333 or log onto http://www.healthacc.co.za/
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