March Madness is in full swing and we are all excited to see our picks and favorite athletes compete in the big tournament. More likely than not, the NCAA athletes we watch started their sports journey at the K-12 level and a lot of families are left financially unprotected in the event of a sports injury.
What is K-12 Student Accident Insurance?
Student Accident insurance is an insurance policy that can pay some, not all, expenses associated with accidental injuries that happen at school during sanctioned, supervised and sponsored school activities. These activities include, practice, play, and supervised travel to and from school activities.
Types of Student Accident Insurance:
For the most part Student Accident insurance can be broken down into two parts; district purchased accident insurance and parent purchased accident insurance.
- The district purchases student accident insurance for all school sponsored, sanctioned and supervised activities. This type of insurance can be referred to “mandatory” or “compulsory” insurance. This type of Insurance has two components, “base” coverage and “catastrophic” coverage. The base coverage usually pays up to $25,000 per injury, according to a schedule of benefits. The second component, or “cat” coverage was developed to offset the enormous expenses for a “presumptive disability”. Paralysis and coma are two examples of a presumptive disability injury. Catastrophic insurance has a $25,000 deductible and pays either $5-$6-$7,500,000 in benefits.
- The second part of student accident insurance is parent purchased accident insurance. This is more commonly called “voluntary” insurance. Voluntary insurance is further broken into school time and 24 hour insurance. School time is for accidental injuries that happen during the school day and can include school activities. 24 hour covers the insured student(s) 24 hours a day seven days a week.
How does Student Accident Insurance work?
In most cases student accident insurance is “excess” to any other valid and collectible insurance. In other words, student accident insurance coordinates with a family insurance plan and, in most cases, pays balances left over after the family insurance pays. Parents must file any accidental injury claim on their own insurance first!
Important things to remember:
- Student accident insurance pays according to a “schedule of benefits”.
- The schedule is applicable for a covered injury and is the most the insurance company will pay based on the schedule purchased by the district.
- Also, if there is no other insurance available to pay the claim, the student accident insurance will pay first dollar but only up to the maximum amount per benefit.
To learn more about how you can get coverage for your student athletes contact us for more information.
